Step one to understanding the economy and finance is simply understanding the accounting and financial terms that are new to you or which you do not understand. I usually start with a good dictionary or encyclopedia. A complete Oxford-English Dictionary or a good finance or accounting dictionary should have most of what you need. I always start with Wikipedia and Wiktionary. They usually have the basics.
You can link to both in the links section at this blog under “Get Data.”
If you don’t understand a word, look it up. If for some reason, you feel you still don’t understand, post a question here and I will see if I can answer or get one.