The Housing Boom and Bust

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The Housing Boom and Bust

By: Thomas Sowell

Narrated by: Robertson Dean

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About this listen

There was no single, dramatic event that set the current financial crisis off. A whole series of very questionable decisions by many people, in many places, over a period of years, built up the pressures that led to a sudden collapse of the housing market and of financial institutions that began to fall like dominoes as a result of investing in securities based on housing prices.

This book is designed to unravel the tangled threads of that story. It also attempts to determine whether what is being done to deal with the problem is more likely to make things better or worse.

Economic Conditions

Economics

Politics & Government

Real Estate

Taxation

Banking

Capitalism

Global Financial Crisis

Great Recession

Mortgage

Socialism

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Critic reviews

"Among economists of the past thirty years, [Sowell] stands very proud indeed." ( Wall Street Journal)

Most relevant

I gave this book a listen as it was free on the Plus Catalogue. I really enjoyed the book and the narration was excellent.

The author argues that the US Government was largely responsible for encouraging a housing boom and bust cycle that produced terrible consequences for the world economy in 2008. US Government policy (under Democrat & Republican administrations) promoted home ownership for less affluent Americans (sub-prime housing). The Government incentivised the banks to borrow irresponsibly (e.g., zero down payment mortgages, no proof of earnings) to people who could not afford mortgages after the initial teaser rate period. A downturn in the housing market exposed the folly of this policy as people with little equity in their properties reneged on their mortgages, thereby triggering the collapse.

Whilst the author clearly has a right-wing political bias, I found his arguments rational and well-considered. In fact, the book may have some important lessons relevant to the housing collapse in China in late 2021.