The Big Short

Sub-Primes for Dummies

Anyone who wants to understand the roots of the sub-prime crisis, which has plunged the world in recession for the past 5 years, should definitely get this book. Michael Lewis explains in easily comprehensible terms the concepts and reasons behind the splitting of mortgage loans into various floors and how this dissociation of the loans from the assets led to ever more abstract constructions which finally sent the world into chaos in the summer of 2008. A must read if you want to know why, and how, we got into the mess we are in nowadays.

7 of 8 people found this review helpful

Complex but enjoyable

If you can get your head around complex wall street 'financial speak' such as synthetic CDO's and credit default swaps then this book is a revelation. Or at least it was for me; I thought the banks had been irresponsible now I know they are downright corrupt. The great irony is that they made these complex financial models to hide the risk but the models became so complex that they didn't understand them themselves.

10 of 12 people found this review helpful

Just enough technical detail and a good story

I've worked a lot in financial regulation so I understood a lot about the events described already, but I still learned a few things from this. All the technical details are well explained and I think people without a financial background could understand a lot of it as well.

As for the story, it's well done. If I have a criticism, it's that it's a bit too black and white - Lewis's world is populated by two types of people - one group who are smart, hardworking and honest, and another who are stupid, shady and just out to make a quick buck. But I guess he exaggerated the characters a bit to make the story more engaging. And engaging it is. Would recommend to anyone interested in understanding what caused the crisis but not wanting to get bogged down in technical analyses

6 of 7 people found this review helpful

What went wrong, in a way you'll understand.

The politicians blamed the bankers, the bankers blamed the poor, the business people blamed everyone and we didn't know who to blame. At last a book that tells what happened and where it all went wrong, without the writer needing to play a political or buisness position.

Be warned though, after listening to this you'll find it mighty hard to accept the bilge that passes for business, political and accepted truths about what is the World's biggest financial disaster. Do yourself a favour and wise up to what's been going on. Start taking action to avoid getting sucked in to all this. This story won't be completely played out for another ten years - so it's going to influence you, your wealth and income and your well being. Read the book and get ready.

9 of 11 people found this review helpful

A thriller that is still evolving into a nigthmare

What happens when you add complexity to an equation, then add more complexity and more and more and more, not knowing what the answer will be?
What happens when your long term is three month but your construct is measured in years?
What happens when men plan only for a myopic self serving individualistic benefit, not thinking for a moment about the larger society?
What happens when you stop thinking of other human beings as real but just streams of future income, expendable, usable, inconsequential?
What happens when you have so much money; you no longer understand the reality of others, when thirty million dollars is not enough to enter a game. when a hundred million only lets you pick at the table; when a billion is just a start?
What happens when the regulators all want to be the regulated because that is where the real money is?
What happens when you and your children pay for the insanity this questions propose?
I have picked behind the curtain, and what I saw was madness, mountains of madness.
The failures of our economies are the failures of our morality and the rot is so deep in our humanity, we need to have a radical removal of it virulence; or it will metastasise in all our values, and institutions.
Must read a thriller that is still evolving into a nightmare.

12 of 15 people found this review helpful

Staggering

Great and awful story told in an engaging way through the eyes of a variety of players. I defy anybody to listen to this without having a visceral reaction.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Terrific

A dramatic story that leaves a normal person feeling very angry. The bad guys waltz off with millions and the good guys aren't exactly heroes either. Some details are a little hard to grasp for a layperson, but then again 99% of Wall Street insiders didn't quite understand the Ponzi scheme they were rolled up in either. An amazing tale of our times, well-told by an able story-teller.

8 of 10 people found this review helpful

Dense financial detail made accessible

What did you like best about this story?

Explores complex minutae but in a way that illustrates the big picture about the financial industry as a whole

What does Michael Lewis and Jesse Boggs bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you had only read the book?

I think I might have bogged down in the detail reading it myself

Any additional comments?

Anyone who wants to know how the financial crisis happened would find this very interesting

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

fascinating

Fascinating account of the financial crisis if 2008, sub prime mortgage bonds, synthetic CDOs, a real eye opener.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

If only I understood it all

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

I would recommend it to a historian or financial investor - but my dearest friends and family? No. I struggled to understand the terminology (even though it was fully explained in the book) and when things start going downhill - well I was totally lost.

What did you like best about this story?

I loved the insights into the financial markets and the characters that pervade that scene. It was great to see how the institutions look down on all us plebs and rip off everyone on such a grand scale. Scary

What does Michael Lewis and Jesse Boggs bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you had only read the book?

Loads of information and insights on how stock market works and also the world within the world and the influence at every level in society.

Did The Big Short inspire you to do anything?

It inspired me to see the film to see if it made more sense than the book. I got lost halfway through. The film sorted out the basics of the book but it also glossed over a lot that I still needed explaining.

Any additional comments?

I think you need an interest in stock markets and banking to really fully understand what happened here.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful