Bye Bye Banks and Wall Street

[Alex]

I don't know if I can explain in a way that will make sense within a length of text that you'd actually read.

I've tried to write a short version several times and it immediately starts to become a long version with serious caveats about important things being left out.

There was an episode of This American Life a few months ago that explained it as well as just about anything I've seen. I'll try to track that down for you. The basics remain true to the events of the last few days (though it doesn't explain why Lehman Brothers was allowed to die while AIG was bailed out).

However, if I lose my job soon (which isn't outside the realm of possibility since I work for the company widely considered next in line) I'll have plenty of time to write things up.