As always, Megan has a way of explaining things so that even I understand them...

What difference does it make to the recession if Citibank and Bank of America fail?:

"Good question. Here's a roundabout answer.

In some sense, all of history's progress from lives that were nasty, brutish and short to today's splendiferous buffet of iPhones, nine-month courses of physical therapy, and year-round fresh broccoli can be summed up in three words: gains from trade. We live better than a tribe of chimpanzees roaming through the primordial forest because we specialize and then exchange the fruits of our skills with each other. Trade, as the ecoomists say, increases the size of the economic pie to be divided between us.

...We are currently enduring the Alec Baldwin and Kim Basinger of economic corrections.'

Read it all...