Slate's Big Money Makes Learning About the Financial Crisis Fun Again

Not that financial crisis coverage needs to be fun--just accessible. Economic conditions, at least the way they are generally reported (as numbers and letters on a stock ticker) can be difficult for us lay people to visualise. The reporting is often too jargony for me to wrap my liberal-arts-educated head around. This is why it is so important that financial and economic news sites, such as Slate's The Big Money, use video content to supplement their coverage of the financial crisis. Right now, financial news isn't a niche market. It's something that everyone needs to be exposed to--and more importantly to understand.

The video below is a great example of how adding visual element can really bring the point home. This video interviews the creators of a new documentary, American Casino, along with clips from the film. People often speak apocalyptically about the financial crisis, and there is nothing more apocalyptic than a plague. We watch as a plague of mosquitos (and their accompanying diseases) emerges from the abandoned swimming pools of foreclosed mansions.

A Ken doll floating ominously in a sludge-darkened pool, breeding mosquitos, is an image we won't soon forget. It's an apt metaphor for the fallen American dream, corrupted innocence, and toxic ambitions (or something like that). The point being, we've always known there was something sick about the unchecked accumulation of wealth-- seeing the remains of this lifestyle choked by nature and festering as the literal (as well as symbolic) source of disease, adds a whole new dimension to our thinking. This segment not only works well as a trailer, enticing us to watch the whole documentary, but it piques our interest in the general topic, and helps us contextualize the more traditional economic reporting found in The Big Money.