Being an American in Argentina, I’ve been asked about 20 times, in the past two weeks, to explain what exactly is happening with the U.S. banking system and why it’s happening right now. I actually do kind of understand it, but not well enough to clearly explain it to someone who has no idea what’s going on.

Which I guess means that I don’t really understand it as well as I thought I did.

Luckily, Very Short List just sent me a link to a website called The Money Meltdown that explains the situation so well that anyone can get a handle on it. It has links to further reading for people who want to learn a lot more, and it compares the current catastrophe to past financial catastrophes.

Even if you’ve never read the Wall Street Journal (or FT, or whatever) in your life, even if you can’t stand to watch CNBC for a second, you should give The Money Meltdown a look. Wherever you live, chances are pretty good that the things happening in New York and Washington right now will affect your life for the next couple of years, and this is a great site to help you understand exactly what’s going on.