Michael Lewis, whose work we referenced in our recent post, “Tenacity,” is at it again. When I read Liar’s Poker in the late 80’s, I was amazed. I had heard similar vernacular for years around our table at dinner parties populated by equity traders and institutional salespeople. Lewis is an extremely talented writer who spent a few years at Salomon Brothers, having been hired as an analyst with no experience whatsoever. Lewis quit in disgust and wrote an expose that ruined more than a few careers on Wall Street, including that of his former boss, John Gutfreund.
I’d never taken an accounting course, never run a business, never even had savings of my own to manage. I stumbled into a job at Salomon Brothers in 1985 and stumbled out much richer three years later, and even though I wrote a book about the experience, the whole thing still strikes me as preposterous… – Michael Lewis
The End, where he chronicles the build-up and practices in mortgage-based derivatives that led to the recent economic meltdown. Sounds dry, right? Wrong! You’ll go to the very end, wishing there was more. Lewis has a conversational tone, so when you read him, it’s like listening to a story. A horrifying story populated by ridiculously overcompensated bad guys, and not-so-bad guys who figure out how to make money from a house of cards. It’s a train wreck, and Lewis vividly puts you at the crossing.
I wondered if the article would spawn a book, as it was so impeccably researched and detailed. Now comes Panic, which looks to be a masterful analysis in the same vein as the article. Lewis has yet to disappoint, and I’m very much looking forward to reading it.
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{ 9 comments… read them below or add one }
Sounds interesting. I’ve read so much about what lead to the economic meltdown but it’s still difficult to understand it all.
I will need to put this on my read list…I am with Vered it is so hard to understand all the underpinning and games played…except that the were too many who were overcompensated…
Thank you for this suggestion.
Patricia´s last blog post..Chug, Chug, Toot, Toot
I agree w/ Vered. It sounds like an interesting story about a very serious condition we are all facing.
Stacey / Create a Balance´s last blog post..Life Balance Quotes
Hi Betsy – Great book review. As much as I like to know what causes the meltdowns, mortgages crisis and the mess on Wall Street, I wonder, would this book make the average “Joe” angry when they find out what really goes on behind the scenes?
Barbara Swafford – Blogging Without A Blog´s last blog post..(Not So) NBOTWs – Oldies But Goodies
Hi Vered – Michael Lewis points out in The End that all these Wall Streeters were selling and buying stuff that THEY didn’t understand! Then they derived and derived until there wasn’t anything to derive anymore and so they were buying and selling air, pretty much, with OUR money. It’s truly mind boggling, isn’t it?
Hi Patricia – I like the way Lewis writes because he uses a common vernacular, not the too-laced-with-industry-jargon that a lot of traders used when I was in their company years ago. He has a way of boiling down to the essence of what drove these people – and it’s a very basic vice. A movie would be great, wouldn’t it?
Hi Stacey – The thing about Lewis is, he’s got such a dark sense of humor, his caricatures are rueful and funny.
Hi Barbara – Well, I think a lot of average “Joes” were horrified at Michael Douglas’ Gordon Gecko in “Wall Street” already. “Greed is good.” A little anger might be a good thing, as long as we don’t get so caught up in vilification that we forget to thoughtfully regulate against these occurrences again. Thanks!
Might make a good Christmas present for someone also. I have a stack of books I need to be reading now (but I’m playing with the new puppy Peneolope).
Debbie´s last blog post..Need Health Care? Go to Mexico
Hi Debbie – I would love to get it for Christmas – no time before then anyway! I’m glad you have your new puppy. Losing two dogs in such a short time isn’t fair.
Hi Betsy – This definitely sounds like something that I want to add to my reading list. The only thing I don’t like about some of these types of books is that they’re always saying – I got rich from this – now I want to tell you how disgusted I am with the whole thing. But I never find the part where they say – so I gave all the money back.
Cath Lawson´s last blog post..Affiliate Commissions – Is Your Anti-Virus Eating Them?
Hi Cath – LOL good point! Kind of like the Lehman Bros CEO in front of Congress who got all teary because he felt bad that the company was going down. Bad…but not responsible, of course.