I was treasurer of the Beta Club in high school. Once I balanced my checkbook without bothering to use a calculator. And ever so often, I pick up a copy of The Wall Street Journal.

I don't always read it, but just by having it sitting on the coffee table, I look infinitely smarter to my friends than I would if I had, say, Soap Opera Digest sitting around on the coffee table.

It's important in these troubling times to be intelligent about the economy. The news about the economy can be downright scary. Banks are failing. Credit is getting harder to obtain. The stock market is in a freefall.

And according to my accountant, I now have more change in my pocket than I do in my 401(k). My 401(k) is rapidly becoming a 501(c)3, which is the tax designation for nonprofit groups.

A colleague suggests that, thanks to the recent turmoil in the markets, I won't be able to retire until about two months after I die.

For some time now, we've been reading about economic indicators in the news, and all of it has been bleak. The stock market dropped 1,500 points this week. General Motors' stock, for instance, fell to its lowest point since 1950.

I'm not completely surprised at the economic mess we find ourselves in today. Using my keen economic mind, I actually predicted it.

I recently ordered new checks from my bank. They came back with my name, address and "INSUFFICIENT FUNDS" pre-printed across the front. That's when I suspected something was amiss.

Still, I wasn't too concerned that my bank might fail until I went in to inquire about a loan.

"I'd like to inquire about a loan," I told the bank president.

"Great," he responded. "How much can you loan us?"

Realizing that I wasn't getting anywhere on the loan front, I tried another approach.

"May I open a joint account?" I asked.

"Certainly," he responded. "With whom would you like to open an account?"

"Anyone with money," I said.

The more I read about the banking problems in this country, the more I realize this crisis was inevitable. Banks made some very bad decisions about to whom to loan money. Those decisions are now costing them, literally.

Let me explain to you what has happened in banking. Remember in the old days when the bank would reward you for opening an account? If you deposited, say, $100 in a savings account, they'd give you a toaster.

What has gotten banks into trouble today is that when people bring in a toaster, the banks gives them $100.

Of course, it's not just banks that are struggling in these tough times. Lots of businesses are hurting. A friend tells me that the state of the economy has even had an effect on golf courses.

"Every time someone yells, 'Fore,'" he said, "someone yells back, 'Closure.'"

The question of the hour, of course, is how do we stop the bleeding? Every day last week, we watched the Dow Jones drop like a rock in a lake. But none of the economists on TV seemed to have an answer. Some said get out of the market. Some said stay in. Some said now was the time to buy.

About the only thing the economists accomplished was proving the old adage that talk is cheap. Which brings me to another thing about economics that I know.

Do you know why talk is cheap?

Supply exceeds demand.

Mitch Clarke is executive editor of The Times. His column appears Sundays in The Times and on gainesvilletimes.com. Originally published Oct. 12, 2008.