Letter to a US Citizen on the eve of your historic election

Dear Friend,

Tomorrow you are going to vote in a historic US election to continue the great tradition of Democracy.

Any way you vote, you are going to make history. Either by electing a woman to vice-presidency or by electing a black man to presidency.

As you vote in the next US election, remember you are still part of a bigger neighbourhood.

Today more than ever, we are tied closer together in everything we do.

Your child plays with a toy made by a young girl in China. Sugar on your table came from cane cut by a young man in Brazil.

Your car is powered by oil dug out from a well in Saudi Arabia by a middle-aged man from Indonesia.

You work for a European company that makes electronics that go into
Korean phones sold in India – and that pays for your bills for gasoline, sugar and toys.

When your city (No! our city) was burning after 9/11, we all watched in
horror and cried with you. We all joined you and went to war against terrorists.

When your soldiers treated prisoners in Abu Ghraib, Iraq filthily, we
all watched in shame and cursed you. We all tried to stay away from you.

When your hero (No! our hero) Phelps won 8 gold medals, we all watched
in awe and cheered with you. We all joined in the Olympic celebrations.

So, when you vote tomorrow, remember that we are all watching anxiously, just like you.

We share your concerns about our interdependent future – about the
slowing global economy, about global warming, about world peace – about
the only Earth we all have to share.

So, when you vote tomorrow, ignore petty politics about pigs and lipstick.

We all know you can rise beyond prejudices and narrow fundamentalist beliefs. Think
about the bigger issues that will affect your grandchildren – and ours.

Any way you vote, you are going to make history !!

But if you vote for party politics and “USA-alone-matters” politicians, we will be quite sorry for you.

Vote for a stronger and stable economy. Vote for a just and peaceful world. And we will cheer for you.

May God bless the world and everyone in it !

Your loving neighbour.

Banking and the Global Economic Model

Articles like these are eye-openers (but only partially):
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/14/washington/14guarantee.html?hp=&pagewanted=all
http://money.cnn.com/2008/07/11/news/economy/fannie_freddie.fortune/index.htm

If large banks and the government cannot fully fathom the complexities of the banking internals and its impact on the economy, how are common folk supposed to understand what is going on ?

I’ve been trying to read as much as I can about economics, banking, etc. But it always seems fuzzy. Can someone point out a contemporary book like Adam Smith’s “Wealth of Nations” ? Or perhaps a simple Economics 101 book written for everyone.

And if we can’t explain our economic model in a single book, have gotten too complex for ourselves ?

As my favourite comment goes, “Simplicity is the result of profound thought”.