I've been wanting to write about The Melt these last few weeks -- because it's been looming in the back of my mind, no matter how much I try to stay focused on work; because so little that's been written about it gets past the polarized oversimplification of "Do exactly this right now or we're all doomed!" vs "It's nothing but yet another rip-off by a cabal of idiots and thieves;" because the financial Melt doesn't begin to touch the deeper and more fundamental challenges we still face, as an economy and as a world -- challenges that bear very directly on the concerns that have animated me these last 36 years.
That piece of writing is coming, but not today, since
...I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.
But I want you to know that I'm thinking of you, Dear Readers, so I offer you this bit of perspective in the meantime on how the markets really work: