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ptothelo's review against another edition
4.0
This was much easier to read and understand than Panic!: The Story of Modern Financial Insanity. And now I feel like I have a better handle on how it all unfolded. But this makes it that much more insane and depressing.
There are probably still some financial terms and trades that I don't fully understand, but what's not difficult to understand is how f'd up everything was on every level. And apparently people who predicted everything would collapse bet against the market and people who caused the collapse made a ton of money before and after the crisis, leaving everyone else in the cold. So it's unclear if any lessons were learned at the end of the day. Urgh.
There are probably still some financial terms and trades that I don't fully understand, but what's not difficult to understand is how f'd up everything was on every level. And apparently people who predicted everything would collapse bet against the market and people who caused the collapse made a ton of money before and after the crisis, leaving everyone else in the cold. So it's unclear if any lessons were learned at the end of the day. Urgh.
woofwoofwoof's review against another edition
challenging
informative
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
fast-paced
5.0
freckleduck's review against another edition
3.0
I liked this but I did feel like the book jumped around from section to section and I wished it felt more fluid.
sarkynir's review against another edition
2.0
I honestly thought this book was going to be more interesting than it was. But yeah, corruption in our large corporations and a handful of people with enough brains to see what's going on.
mimig312's review against another edition
4.0
The Big Short explains the who, why, when and where of the subprime mortgage collaspe from three different perspectives. The author often provides more detail and background on other key players and backs up actual events with more back story to drive home the point of how crazy the whole thing was. The selling methods, bond packaging, and bond ratings are so convoluted its confusing to understand. Sadly, as the author notes, that was the point. The investors, insurance companies, CEOs, even the traders didn't truly get what the real risk was when they created and sold these risky assets. A few people did and shorted the market just in time.
I was in awe reading the book at times. The greed that drove some of the key players to create the bets that they did with billions of dollars astounds me. Left unchecked, greed made millions of loans that it shouldn't have which collapsed the housing market and subsequently Wall Street.
I was in awe reading the book at times. The greed that drove some of the key players to create the bets that they did with billions of dollars astounds me. Left unchecked, greed made millions of loans that it shouldn't have which collapsed the housing market and subsequently Wall Street.
rupiezum's review against another edition
4.0
I was definitely in over my head with the complex Financials - but this book made it all as accessible and understandable as possible.