"Michael Lewis: The Big Short" airing every 4 hours this weekend on Bloomberg TV

[Bozita]

I saw the hour long program earlier today.

Recommended viewing!





http://www.mercurynews.com/books/ci_14704376?nclick_check=1
Review: Lewis's 'The Big Short' a clear-eyed, acid-tongued account of a financial debacle

By Steven Pearlstein
The Washington Post
Posted: 03/18/2010 06:21:11 PM PDT
Updated: 03/18/2010 06:21:11 PM PDT

IF YOU READ only one book about the causes of the recent financial crisis, let it be Berkeley author Michael Lewis's "The Big Short." That's not because Lewis has put together the most comprehensive or authoritative analysis of all the misdeeds, misjudgments and missed signals that led to the biggest credit bubble the world has known. What makes his account so accessible is that he tells it through the eyes of the managers of three small hedge funds and a Deutsche Bank bond salesman, none of whom you've ever heard of. All, however, were among the first to see the folly and fraud behind the subprime fiasco and to find ways to bet against it when everyone else thought them crazy.

Nor would anyone — including Lewis, I'm sure — claim this is an evenhanded history that reflects the differing views of investment bankers, rating-agency analysts and industry analysts, all held up to ridicule here for their arrogance, their cynicism and their relentless incompetence.

In many ways, this is the same smart-alecky Lewis who brilliantly exposed and skewered the ways of Wall Street 20 years ago in "Liar's Poker," written when he was fresh out of the training program at the once-mighty Salomon Brothers. But as he says in his introduction, those days of $3 million salaries and $250 million trading losses look almost quaint compared with the sums made and lost by the most recent generation of Wall Street fraudsters and buffoons.

What's so delightful about Lewis's writing is how deftly he explains and demystifies how things really work on Wall Street, even while creating a compelling narrative and introducing us to a cast of fascinating, all-too-human characters.

more...

[Warpy]

1. I saw his 60 Minutes segment last week, outstanding stuff

I was especially impressed by some of the people he credits with helping him figure the whole thing out.

This might be a book I'll have to struggle to read.

In any case, I think he's right in that it was mass delusion throughout the financial industry instead of some premeditated, colossal scam. Only deregulation allowed that mass delusion to arise and it still hasn't been overcome. Financial guys all seem to think the whole system will be up and running again after this minor glitch.

[dixiegrrrrl]

2. Lewis is very readable, Warpy.

He puts things in clear language. I have most of his books and enjoy them.
True, I do enjoy reading about finance, but I need plain English to understand it.

[Warpy]

3. My problem is eyesight that's still bad enough

that I get a blinding headache after the first ten minutes.

[dixiegrrrrl]

4. Oh...gosh, I AM so sorry to hear that.

Do audio books work for you?