I love a good metaphor.  I won’t go so far as to say I never metaphor I didn’t like (apologies to Mardy Grothe), but I truly believe that seeing one thing in terms of another is the way we learn and understand our world.

So with everything that’s been going on in the world of complicated financial transactions and market chicanery, I needed some good metaphors to help me understand why we’re in this mess, and what sort of mess is it anyway?  Enter Marketplace Senior Editor, Paddy Hirsch. With whiteboard and marker, Mr. Hirsch has explained, to my great delight, a number of arcane practices.  My favorite is collateralized debt obligations as the pyramid of champagne glasses at a wedding reception.  There’s just not enough bubbly to go around anymore.

Whether or not you’re of a mind to dig into the financial crisis, I think these Whiteboard Talks are great.  Besides, if you want to find the amazing thing that you didn’t know you were interested in, there’s nothing quite like a good teacher with whiteboard, and a marker, and a metaphor in hand.