One or two bits of this thread are a bit advanced for "dummies" -I've already put this on the economics degree level thread, but these ramblings seem perhaps better placed here.

A load of people have lent a load of money they don't have to another lot of people who can't afford to pay it back.

Al Quaeda have packed up and gone home saying "Job done, chaps, Wall Street have done it all for us!"

From my basic knowledge of economics, isn't it not just to do with how much money ,but how quickly it moves about?

My step daughter lives in Sicily where, it is rumoured, the Mafia still control a lot of what goes on. It's basically the same over here, just they tend to wear pin striped suits.