I just couldn’t wait to finish the book I’m reading to write about it: The Big Short, by Michael Lewis details a perspective on what brought us to the financial crisis that started in 2007 and which continues to plague us to this day. Lewis knows of what he writes, both through personal experience and through thorough research; what he has to say is devastating, detailing the reckless and risky behaviour of the big players on Wall Street and the total lack of oversight by any form of government. The book details the deviousness of the ploys used by players to create masses of credit default swaps, sub-prime mortgage bonds and CDOs to first hide, then slough off DOA investments on investors, institutions, and, eventually, on the general citizenry. The breadth and depth of the scheme is frightening, and the fact that none of these people has ever had to justify any of it in a court of law speaks to the penetration of corruption in high places. For all that the subject matter is depressing, at times esoteric, and rage-provoking doesn’t keep it from being terribly interesting, engaging, and even humorous at times:

“The argument stopper was Lippmann’s one-man quantitative support team. His name was Eugene Xu, but to those who’d heard Lippman’s pitch, he was generally spoklen of as ‘Lippman’s Chinese quant’. Xu was an analyst employed by Deutshce Bank, but Lipmann gave everyone the idea he kept him tied up to his Bloomberg terminal like a pet. A real Chinese guy–not even a Chinese-American–who apparently spoke no English, just numbers. China had this national math competition, Lippmann told people, in which Eugene had finished second. In all of China. Eugene Xu was responsible for every peice of hard data in Lippmann’s presentation. Once Eugene was introduced into the equation, no one bothered Lippmann about his math or his data. As Lippmann put it:’How can a guy who can’t speak English lie?’ ”

Lewis sis also responsible for Liar’s Poker, Moneyball, and The Blind Side, all fine books and worthy of a read.