The Green Economy

It's always intrigued me how much headline space alternative energy demanded before 2008, only to disappear with the global recession. Obviously with the economy in retreat news sources had bigger stories. The following story does a good job chronicling the rise and fall of clean tech, as well as where  the industry may be headed in the future. 

Why the Clean Tech Boom Went Bust

http://www.wired.com/magazine/2012/01/ff_solyndra/all/1

More unintended consequences

Another interesting piece on the housing bubble. I know it's dated but a great piece on how the housing bubble grew to it's enormous proportion. It provides a great example how the machinations of Wall Street weren't necessarily orchestrated. Rather certain events, such as a creation of a formula, could be used misinterpreted to disastrous consequences:

Recipe for Disaster: The Formula that killed Wall Street.

http://www.wired.com/techbiz/it/magazine/17-03/wp_quant?currentPage=all

Unintended consequences: Credit Default Swaps

The article below is pretty in-depth and technical, but gives a great insight into the housing bubble.  We of course know now the housing market was a bubble, and that many parties had a great interest in keeping that bubble going. What this article talks about are the people who made money when the bubble burst, and their role in making sure the bubble got as big as it could possibly get. It talks about how funds used Credit Default Swaps, a form of insurance against a housing default, as a way to bet against the housing market. This would be akin to seeing that a hurricane was making it's way to land, and buying run down houses on the shoreline, getting them appraised for 5 times their value, and then buying hurricane insurance against the same properties. 

This one is long but eye opening stuff..

 The Magnetar Trade: How one hedge fund helped keep the housing bubble going.

http://www.propublica.org/article/the-magnetar-trade-how-one-hedge-fund-helped-keep-the-housing-bubble-going

Welcome

The world of finance is a formidable one. Most people vastly underestimate the role the markets play in everyday life. The impact is far beyond just interest rates and 401(k) and IRA values. We hope this blog provides interesting insight into both how markets work and how it changes the world we live in.