MnIndy interview: Doug Henwood on Lehman, AIG, Gray Monday, and the economy

After Monday’s dramatic tumble in the financial markets–led by dire announcements about Lehman Brothers (bound for bankruptcy court), Merrill Lynch (absorbed by Bank of America) and insurance giant AIG (desperately seeking bridge loans)–I got in touch with Doug Henwood for some help in sorting out these latest developments and what they augur for the US economy on Main Street.

In a 20-minute interview taped Tuesday afternoon, Henwood–the publisher of the invaluable Left Business Observer newsletter and perhaps our most plainspoken economics journalist–took the measure of “Gray Monday” and the arc of the US economy.

The economy: Google News and the ‘D’ word

Several weeks ago, around the time Bear Stearns collapsed, I started checking in on Google News to see how often the word “depression” was popping up in media accounts. I added the word “economy” to the string…