“The obvious place to start is the financial crisis and the clearest guide to it that I’ve read is Financial Shock by Mark Zandi. ... it is an impressively lucid guide to the big issues.” – The New York Times “In Financial Shock, Mr. Zandi provides a concise and lucid account of the economic, political and regulatory forces behind this binge.” – The Wall Street Journal “Aggressive builders, greedy lenders, optimistic home buyers: Zandi succinctly dissects the mortgage mess from start to (one hopes) finish.” – U.S. News and World Report “A more detailed look at the crisis comes from economist Mark Zandi, co-founder of Moody's Economy.com. His “Financial Shock” delves deeply into the history of the mortgage market, the bad loans, the globalization of trashy subprime paper and how homebuilders ran amok. Zandi's analysis is eye-opening. ... he paints an impressive, more nuanced picture.” – Kiplinger's Personal Finance Magazine “If you wonder how it could be possible for a subprime mortgage loan to bring the global financial system and the U.S. economy to its knees, you should read this book. No one is better qualified to provide this insight and advice than Mark Zandi.” –Larry Kudlow, Host, CNBC’s Kudlow & Company “Every once in a while a book comes along that’s so important, it commands recognition. This is one of them. Zandi provides a rilliant blow-by-blow account of how greed, stupidity, and recklessness brought the first major economic crises of the 21st entury and the most serious since the Great Depression.” –Bernard Baumohl,Managing Director, The Economic Outlook Group and best-selling author, The Secrets of Economic Indicators “Throughout the financial crisis Mark Zandi has played two important roles. He has insightfully analyzed its causes and thoughtfully recommended steps to alleviate it. This book continues those tasks and adds a third–providing a comprehensive and comprehensible explanation of the issues that is accessible to the general public and extremely useful to those who specialize in the area.” –Barney Frank, Chairman, House Financial Services Committee The subprime crisis created a gigantic financial catastrophe. What happened? How did it happen? How can we prevent similar crises from happening again? Mark Zandi answers all these critical questions–systematically, carefully, and in plain English. Zandi begins with a fast-paced overview and then illuminates the deepest causes, from the psychology of homeownership to Alan Greenspan’s missteps. You’ll see the home “flippers” at work and the real estate agents who cheered them on. You’ll learn how Internet technology and access to global capital transformed the mortgage industry, helping irresponsible lenders drive out good ones. Zandi demystifies the complex financial engineering that enabled lenders to hide deepening risks, shows how global investors eagerly bought in, and explains how flummoxed regulators failed to prevent disaster, despite crucial warning signs. Most important, Zandi offers indispensable advice for investors who must recognize emerging bubbles, policymakers who must improve oversight, and citizens who must survive whatever comes next. Liar’s loans, flippers, predatory lenders, delusional homebuilders How the housing market came unhinged, and the whirlwind came together Alan Greenspan’s trillion-dollar bet Betting on the boom, ignoring the bubble The subprime market goes global Worldwide investors get a piece of the action–and reap the results Wall Street’s alchemists: conjuring up Frankenstein New financial instruments and their hidden contents Back to the future: risk management for the 21st century Respecting the “animal spirits” that drive even the most sophisticated markets

"In Financial Shock, Mr. Zandi provides a concise and lucid account of the economic, political, and regulatory forces behind this binge." —The Wall Street Journal “The obvious place to start is the financial crisis, and the clearest guide to it that I’ve read is Financial Shock by Mark Zandi....It is an impressively lucid guide to the big issues.” — David Leonhardt, The New York Times “If you wonder how it could be possible for a subprime mortgage loan to bring the global financial system and the U.S. economy to its knees, you should read this book. No one is better qualified to provide this insight and advice than Mark Zandi.” — Larry Kudlow, Host, CNBC’s Kudlow & Company “Mark Zandi provides insightful analysis, thoughtful recommendations, and a comprehensible explanation of the financial crisis that is accessible to the general public and extremely useful to those who specialize in the area.” — Barney Frank, Chairman, House Financial Services Committee The Definitive Financial Meltdown Exposé: Now completely updated to include discussions of the Obama administration’s many policy initiatives and proposed solutions. •Includes expanded coverage of the market meltdown, the bailout bill and stimulus plans, the bank rescue plan, and the foreclosure mitigation plan • Sifting the wreckage, fixing the blame: the roles of mortgage lenders, investment bankers, speculators, the real estate industry, regulators, the Fed, and homebuyers • Tomorrow’s emerging financial shocks–and how to prevent them

From the chief economic commentator for the Financial Times—a brilliant tour d’horizon of the new global economy There have been many books that have sought to explain the causes and courses of the financial and economic crisis that began in 2007. The Shifts and the Shocks is not another detailed history of the crisis but is the most persuasive and complete account yet published of what the crisis should teach us about modern economies and econom­ics. Written with all the intellectual command and trenchant judgment that have made Martin Wolf one of the world’s most influential economic com­mentators, The Shifts and the Shocks matches impressive analysis with no-holds-barred criti­cism and persuasive prescription for a more stable future. It is a book no one with an interest in global affairs will want to neglect.

Bored with endless grandstanding and people being wise after the event? Then The Age of Instability is the one book you should read on the financial crisis. Setting the near collapse of the international financial markets and banking system in a global and historical context, Sunday Times economics editor and bestselling author David Smith looks not only at the political and economic factors that contributed to the fall of Lehmans, collapse of Iceland and disintegration of the subprime mortgage market but also at the emergence of a culture of risk and greed that made it possible to believe that greed was good and the good times would last forever. It provides an authoritative yet accessible guide to what happened, where, and when with practical suggestions for what needs to happen next.

This is the eBook version of the printed book. If the print book includes a CD-ROM, this content is not included within the eBook version. The subprime crisis and the global financial panic it triggered will impact every one of us profoundly, for y.

"In Financial Shock, Mr. Zandi provides a concise and lucid account of the economic, political, and regulatory forces behind this binge."--The Wall Street Journal "The obvious place to start is the financial crisis, and the clearest guide to it that I've read is Financial Shock by Mark Zandi ... It is an impressively lucid guide to the big issues." - David Leonhardt, The New York Times "If you wonder how it could be possible for a subprime mortgage loan to bring the global financial system and the U.S. economy to its knees, you should read this book. No one is better qualified to provide this insight and advice than Mark Zandi." - Larry Kudlow, Host, CNBC's Kudlow & Company "Mark Zandi provides insightful analysis, thoughtful recommendations, and a comprehensible explanation of the financial crisis that is accessible to the general public and extremely useful to those who specialize in the area." - Barney Frank, Chairman, House Financial Services Committee The Definitive Financial Meltdown Exposé: Now completely updated to include discussions of the Obama administration's many policy initiatives and proposed solutions.-Includes expanded coverage of the market meltdown, the bailout bill and stimulus plans, the bank rescue plan, and the foreclosure mitigation plan - Sifting the wreckage, fixing the blame: the roles of mortgage lenders, investment bankers, speculators, the real estate industry, regulators, the Fed, and homebuyers - Tomorrow's emerging financial shocks-and how to prevent them.