I have promised several times in the past that I'll talk about the 2008 financial crisis in one of my posts, how it started and why I think it happened. Then I remembered that at the height of the recession, one of my colleagues sent me a Powerpoint file entitled "The Subprime Primer" a couple of years ago, a simple, stick-figure rendition of what was happening back then. As you'll see when you view the very same slideshow below, the presentation captures the highlights of the meltdown better than any explanation I can come up with. I have, in fact, used the same presentation to explain the crisis to my past classes, to some degree of success; unfortunately, more than a few were turned off by the crass metaphors and unapologetic cursing scattered throughout the presentation. But I know that you guys are above all those things, so here we go. Enjoy!
Update! June 16, 2010, 5:10 PM
Courtesy of our good friend, Ange, here's a similar and more professional (and less crass and profane) version of what happened in 2008. Enjoy!