Members with This Book
Most Helpful Reviews
see all reviews
Liked It “Reading on my Kobo app because it is inexplicably unavailable to Canadian Kindle users. Worthwhile for anyone who wants a great overall summation of the US financial crisis of 2008. Apportion blame appropriately to pretty much everyone involved (except for people who thought it made sense to...” see full review » see other reviews » |
Newest Reviews
see all reviews-
“Reading on my Kobo app because it is inexplicably unavailable to Canadian Kindle users. Worthwhile for anyone who wants a great overall summation of the US financial crisis of 2008. Apportion blame appropriately to pretty much everyone involved (except for people who thought it made sense to buy homes way above their price range with a loan for the down-payment). ”
AJM wrote this review 11 days ago. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No“This is an interesting take on the financial crisis in the US, bringing together the role played by Government Sponsored Enterprises, Lenders, Credit Rating Agencies and sundry regulators. It highlights the opportunities well meaning political aspiration, such as trying to increase homeownership to a wider section of society, created for various financial players. Another thing that comes through this book is how ideology and facts often make uncomfortable bedfellows. ”
Alex Story wrote this review Thursday, March 28, 2013. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No“I read "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis, which gave an entertaining look at the financial crisis from the perspective of the few who saw it coming. I chose to read "All The Devils Are Here" to learn more about those who didn't (and who should have since they were the one's who created the mess). It is shocking how many who should have known better really didn't see this mess coming.”
Paul Szydlowski wrote this review Saturday, March 2, 2013. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“Really awesome. I didn't realize exactly how big an issue Countrywide and the lenders were, I think everyone blamed the banks. It really emphasized how the company's financial models just didn't bother to take into account defaults on such a large scale, how the ratings agencies were implicitly bullied into sending out AAA ratings, how absolutely sleazy and trashy the lower scale lenders were (and yet how some of them thought they were spreading home ownerships to the masses- owning a home being so completely fundamental to the American dream), how impotent the Fannie and Freddie regulators were. I didn't realize the original purpose of Fannie and Freddie was to buy mortgages to increase liquidity in the mortgage market and allow more people to buy homes, and how CEOs with bloated dreams took them into the subprime market and bought up worthless mortgages, and thus brought an enormous amount of risk onto the books. It was basically an infection, with some of the best and worst intentions in the world. I'm pretty sure the movie margin call is borrowed from this entirely.”
bensbooks wrote this review Sunday, February 24, 2013. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“The more I read about the financial crisis that began in 2008, the more convinced I am of three things:
Greg wrote this review Saturday, February 16, 2013. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
- the people responsible for the crisis were motivated by a level of greed that is tough for me to imagine.
- the people responsible for the crisis had no idea what they were doing.
- see item #1”“Excellent history of the financial crisis. Even better than The Big Short.”
Legacy wrote this review Tuesday, January 22, 2013. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No“If you enjoy books about finance and money then you will find this an enjoyable read about a miserable time in our country's financial history. I have not yet read the other books on this subject so I cannot give a comparative rating.”
Martin A. Rubin wrote this review Tuesday, January 22, 2013. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“Wow, talk about a view of the sausage factory...”
Tim Mather wrote this review Monday, January 21, 2013. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“McLean and her partner author another winner with an immense amount of interesting insider detail similar to her brilliant book on Enron.”
Bookmonger wrote this review Monday, January 21, 2013. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“For anyone trying to get an understanding of the issues and the main players involved in the sub-prime mortgage financial meltdown, this is a great book to read. It digs deep into the root causes, of which there are many, of the crisis and gives great insight into the workings of the investment banks and the people who ran them, the securitization industry, Fannie & Freddie, the US Treasury, the big banks, and the mortgage originators. The tale unfolds revealing how the bad decisions of leaders who should have known better and the unchecked greed of Wall Street's financial firms, met up with the perfect vehicles of an out of control securitization industry and an unregulated derivatives market to take advantage of the American dream of home ownership which in the end brought down some of the biggest players in the market. While the book ended with the events of 2010, it is clear that the pain of the crisis is still felt today. This book is an eye-opener for anyone trying to understand how such a thing could happen in America. ”
Beth H wrote this review Friday, November 9, 2012. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
