Hey folks, Last Friday, I was invited to discuss the economy and job numbers with John King on his new CNN show. (Sorry it's taken so long to post, but I've been juggling a few things). I was surprised by the quality of the conversation, to be honest. I'm used to these cable shows throwing up a Brady Bunch-style, talking head smackdown, and this segment was nothing like that. It consisted of an unexpectedly well-produced segment about the loss of industrial jobs and its effects on the black community plus John and I talking both about unemployment and the contrast of that to extreme compensation for the bankster class. Here's the original segment. As I'm starting to do by habit, I've recorded a video response to get into a bit more detail about some of the ideas I wanted to communicate.

And here's my response... to myself :) Some references backing up the points I was making

• The Washington Independent has a great article citing that IMF report on banks, lobbying, risky behavior and poor performance
• Nice piece by Les Leopold at Alternet on the guaranteed billionaire bailout we've created with the banks