The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine
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- Create Date：2022-11-21 06:56:27
- Update Date：2025-09-07
- Status：finish
- Author：Michael Lewis
- ISBN：0141983302
- Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
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Summary
When the crash of the U。S。 stock market became public knowledge in the fall of 2008， it was already old news。 The real crash， the silent crash， had taken place over the previous year， in bizarre feeder markets where the sun doesn’t shine， and the SEC doesn’t dare， or bother， to tread: the bond and real estate derivative markets where geeks invent impenetrable securities to profit from the misery of lower and middle-class Americans who can’t pay their debts。 The smart people who understood what was or might be happening were paralyzed by hope and fear; in any case， they weren’t talking。
The crucial question is this: Who understood the risk inherent in the assumption of ever-rising real estate prices， a risk compounded daily by the creation of those arcane， artificial securities loosely based on piles of doubtful mortgages？
Michael Lewis turns the inquiry on its head to create a fresh， character-driven narrative brimming with indignation and dark humor， a fitting sequel to his #1 bestselling Liar’s Poker。 Who got it right？ he asks。 Who saw the ever-rising real estate market for the black hole it would become， and eventually made billions of dollars from that perception？ And what qualities of character made those few persist when their peers and colleagues dismissed them as Chicken Littles？ Out of this handful of unlikely—really unlikely—heroes， Lewis fashions a story as compelling and unusual as any of his earlier bestsellers， proving yet again that he is the finest and funniest chronicler of our times。
The crucial question is this: Who understood the risk inherent in the assumption of ever-rising real estate prices， a risk compounded daily by the creation of those arcane， artificial securities loosely based on piles of doubtful mortgages？
Michael Lewis turns the inquiry on its head to create a fresh， character-driven narrative brimming with indignation and dark humor， a fitting sequel to his #1 bestselling Liar’s Poker。 Who got it right？ he asks。 Who saw the ever-rising real estate market for the black hole it would become， and eventually made billions of dollars from that perception？ And what qualities of character made those few persist when their peers and colleagues dismissed them as Chicken Littles？ Out of this handful of unlikely—really unlikely—heroes， Lewis fashions a story as compelling and unusual as any of his earlier bestsellers， proving yet again that he is the finest and funniest chronicler of our times。
Reviews
Jr
，
This is one of the few cases where the movie is actually probably more accurate than the book -- and far more entertaining。 Watch that instead of this bookPretty accurate but goes way overboard on the peculiarity of the people he features。 Maybe those people were peculiar but there were lots of people who knew there was a bubble going on and even many who bet against it。
Elizabeth McDowell
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers。 To view it， click here。 I was disgusted and disturbed to finally understand what happened in the 2008 financial crisis。 Greed by the biggest actors in the American financial system; passing the buck on risk and credit verification; pressure to innovate and complicate until the system is incomprehensible even to its creators。 Lewis does a great job making the intricacies of the financial system transparent to the committed reader。 I won't say "average reader" because there were certainly some sections that were pretty d I was disgusted and disturbed to finally understand what happened in the 2008 financial crisis。 Greed by the biggest actors in the American financial system; passing the buck on risk and credit verification; pressure to innovate and complicate until the system is incomprehensible even to its creators。 Lewis does a great job making the intricacies of the financial system transparent to the committed reader。 I won't say "average reader" because there were certainly some sections that were pretty dense and technical。Four stars because it's a great read for the big picture （and the big picture is pretty devastating）; it describes some of the weirdest financial experts and analysts you'll ever meet; and gives you a sense of Lewis' incredible reporting chops and ability to communicate compellingly about one of the most abstract， inscrutable aspects of modern American economic life。 。。。more
Karim Guzairov
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Будет интересно каждому， кто интересуется финансовыми рынками
Derek Brown
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Come for cdo explication， stay for Wall Street fashion semiology， leave with “a one eyed money manager with Asperger’s。”
Patrick Lum
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An incredible piece of both journalism and storytelling。 I started it on a flight and couldn't put it down。 Waiting for the crypto ftx book with baited breath。 An incredible piece of both journalism and storytelling。 I started it on a flight and couldn't put it down。 Waiting for the crypto ftx book with baited breath。 。。。more
Magnus Eriksson
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Läste bara halva。
Lisa
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I'm going to set this book aside for a while。 It is quite a bit over my head， and I don't have the time to research everything that it is discussing。 I'm struggling to follow the descriptions， and I have no idea who is the "good guy" in everything。 Maybe there is no good guy？ I'm going to set this book aside for a while。 It is quite a bit over my head， and I don't have the time to research everything that it is discussing。 I'm struggling to follow the descriptions， and I have no idea who is the "good guy" in everything。 Maybe there is no good guy？ 。。。more
Dai Lo
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Makes me want to rewatch the movie。Triggered me to Google research:- mortgage swaps- CDO- Individuals- sub prime mortgagesInspired me to be aware and do research on anomalies
njain23
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If you watched the movie you probably don't need to read this book， since the movie adaptation is basically if you cut out some parts and made the book a 2 hour experience。 However， I wanted to read the book since the movie dumbs down the actual financial explanations too much to really understand what happened。 The TLDR is that savings and loans operations made terrible loans to people who definitely couldn't pay them back （with all sorts of scams like "teaser rates" and "no income verification If you watched the movie you probably don't need to read this book， since the movie adaptation is basically if you cut out some parts and made the book a 2 hour experience。 However， I wanted to read the book since the movie dumbs down the actual financial explanations too much to really understand what happened。 The TLDR is that savings and loans operations made terrible loans to people who definitely couldn't pay them back （with all sorts of scams like "teaser rates" and "no income verification" loans）， and then an investment bank would buy up all these loans and turn them into a mortgage bond， where the interest from the loan goes to the bond holder and the principal of the loan is supplied by the bond holder as well （I think from when they buy the bond？）。 The second part of the scam was twofold - one， the ratings agencies （which are somehow private companies and not a government agency？？？） rated these mortgage bonds AAA even though they were more like BB for basically fraudulent reasons （i。e。 "since it's a bunch of mortgages together， it's diversified！" even though mortgages should be highly correlated， and a lot of pressure from the banks）。 And then whatever bonds weren't AAA rated were cut up and repackaged as collateralized debt obligations （CDOs） which are basically a few BB bonds merged together， which the ratings agencies reclassified as AAA since it's also "diversified"。 To add a layer to this， banks started also mixing CDOs together into synthetic CDOs， which served to exponentiate the risk even more and just increase the degrees of separation between the bidder and the actual bid。 You go from a house loan to some random crap that nobody can understand， but that's ok by the banks since they duped places like pension funds， insurance funds （AIG）， and the like by the AAA to buy this junk， all the while collecting massive fees。 This was what turned the housing crisis into an economic crisis -- two trillion dollars of this junk was all over banks and pension funds' books。 Then， when these bad loans inevitably defaulted， the whole machine collapsed。 The worst part was that when the US government came in to stop the crisis， they basically gave billions of dollars to these banks going under with no real demands。 It was a few steps away from free money， which is just absurd。Overall this was a great and depressing book where you can actually trace the thinking of how this whole scam was created。 It also fleshes out each character a lot more if you care about that stuff （it's pretty funny looking up these people online -- they just seem like normal people， and you would have no idea Steve Carrell played this guy in a movie）。 It's worth reading if you care about the details about what happened， but if you've seen the movie you've gotten a decent idea of the story。Honestly this reminded me a lot about VC money and Silicon Valley， especially with what happened in 2021 and 2022 -- basically a bunch of "high growth" startups took on a ton of VC money since interest rates were low and expanded like crazy post covid （like quadrupling their headcount lol）， only caring about growth but not about actually making a profitable business， but then when inflation and the war and so on started squeezing the economy， all these companies started laying off thousands of people and saw their stock prices / valuations completely tank。 Here， something sort of similar happened where people stopped caring about the fundamentals to cash a free check in the short term， even though in the long term their actions would have severe consequences。 。。。more
Nick Page
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Not a good audio book - bad audio quality and material somewhat dry and tough to follow passively
Laura Meese
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Wall Street greed and the eventual financial crisis in 2008。 Michael Lewis does an amazing job explaining very complicated material and makes you shout at the book "How can this be legal？！"。 This makes me want to put my savings under a mattress。。。 haha！ Wall Street greed and the eventual financial crisis in 2008。 Michael Lewis does an amazing job explaining very complicated material and makes you shout at the book "How can this be legal？！"。 This makes me want to put my savings under a mattress。。。 haha！ 。。。more
Simon
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Electric。 Makes me wanna slick back my hair and head to Wall Street， despite the story。
Sarah Waski
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This is the best book out there that discusses the sun prime lending practices。 Michael Lewis makes it easy to understand and entertaining。
David Fosco
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An A。B。C's break down of how Wall Street made millions while screwing the average American。 While repetitive at times Michael does a phenomenal job of explaining the technical and making it understandable for the average person。 An A。B。C's break down of how Wall Street made millions while screwing the average American。 While repetitive at times Michael does a phenomenal job of explaining the technical and making it understandable for the average person。 。。。more
Elena
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I've read this a bunch， and there's nothing more fun than Michael Lewis， when he gets a really good story。 I read this after Liar's Poker， which is a gleeful nose-thumbing at the insane world of bond trading， and Moneyball， which is a thoughtful portrait of unconventional thinkers in an arena that truly doesn't matter （in the way that all sports don't matter， even though they are important and people care， but the outcome of a game doesn't impact whether a country goes to war etc。）。 This was a f I've read this a bunch， and there's nothing more fun than Michael Lewis， when he gets a really good story。 I read this after Liar's Poker， which is a gleeful nose-thumbing at the insane world of bond trading， and Moneyball， which is a thoughtful portrait of unconventional thinkers in an arena that truly doesn't matter （in the way that all sports don't matter， even though they are important and people care， but the outcome of a game doesn't impact whether a country goes to war etc。）。 This was a funny one to read because it is so focused on these people who realized that all of America was going down Titanic-style， and made a lot of money off of it。 Their analysis was right， and their hearts were often in the right place （how sad！ how upsetting！ o woe！ etc。）， but they also made it out with tremendous amounts of status， power， and cash cash cash。 Made off the banks， in no small part， and its not like they are the bad guys in this scenario。 But the hero of Moneyball is Billy Beane--he is an unusual person trying to win a meaningless game， and it doesn't impact anyone else， but its mostly benignly inspirational。 The heroes of the big Short might not be heroes--they were just right。 Anyways， always worth a read， and maybe I'm just getting old。 。。。more
Claire
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Shocking。 Horrifying。 Fascinating。
Gigra
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Incredibly well written and with the help of a few Google searches， easy to understand。 The most comprehensive and accessible work on finance I've yet read。 Incredibly well written and with the help of a few Google searches， easy to understand。 The most comprehensive and accessible work on finance I've yet read。 。。。more
Nils Henningsson
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Inte tillräckligt insatt för att förstå tillräckligt
Will Graham Tyler
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Learned a lot about the financial crisis and enjoyed the character portrayal of the folks that bet against subprime mortgages。 Fun read， would recommend。
Terence
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Incredibly well written story of the outliers in the financial collapse of 2008。 Making something sprawling and complicated into something comprehensible and intricate with a cast of strange characters。
Spire Metro
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A very detailed explanation of the financial collapse from the perspective of an insider。 It does not cover the political， social， or non-profit causes that helped lead to the collapse。Highly recommend for those interested in this subject or anyone weary of consolidation of power or wall street。
Ignacy Januszek
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Helps to understand the story behind the financial crisis。 Clear advice to run away from WS and don't play with short unless you can ride on that wave （no-one really does， some fall in more spectacular wy performing some tricks before）。 At the same time ends with reminder about unstoppable greed of people making the world trade run。 Oceanography is fun but when people are who they are it might be necessary to make sth out of it to survive。 Or better just let it be amazing and alive。 Necessity is Helps to understand the story behind the financial crisis。 Clear advice to run away from WS and don't play with short unless you can ride on that wave （no-one really does， some fall in more spectacular wy performing some tricks before）。 At the same time ends with reminder about unstoppable greed of people making the world trade run。 Oceanography is fun but when people are who they are it might be necessary to make sth out of it to survive。 Or better just let it be amazing and alive。 Necessity is not necessary。 。。。more
Lee
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Reading this makes the movie even more shocking than it felt in first watch。 I couldn't stop listening。 Reading this makes the movie even more shocking than it felt in first watch。 I couldn't stop listening。 。。。more
Jessica
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This subject matter was so important to me and I wanted to understand how sub prime mortgages water being financed on Wall Street。 This book is good and thorough。 I am not smart enough to understand it all。 I tried and I got the big picture， but please don't ask me about the details。 This subject matter was so important to me and I wanted to understand how sub prime mortgages water being financed on Wall Street。 This book is good and thorough。 I am not smart enough to understand it all。 I tried and I got the big picture， but please don't ask me about the details。 。。。more
Jennie Mather
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I know exactly what happened。 I only kind of understand it。 I think that's the point。 I know exactly what happened。 I only kind of understand it。 I think that's the point。 。。。more
David Slice
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This book was eye opening for me as I saw the greed of Wall Street but also the greed of the average American person。 Unfortunately history tends to repeat itself， and we’re still the same that we were in the global financial crisis of 2008。 I just pray that our country’s leaders would learn something from this and do better。
Miles Mullin
，
Good book。Michael Lewis is a great storyteller。 Here， as in his other books， he draws the reader into a complex， society-changing story through underdog characters whom the reader finds himself/herself rooting for very quickly。 The movie adaptation is better。
David Petersen
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I found this book both enlightening and frustrating。 The author does a fabulous job of describing very complicated financial ideas。 The story is engaging and I couldn't put it down。 What is so frustrating is 15 years later and we are back at it again。 Nothing was learned other than politicians will bail out the big businesses so there is no need to fear。 I believe in capitalism， I am a cheerleader for capitalism but I don't know how to reconcile that with what continues to happen in this country I found this book both enlightening and frustrating。 The author does a fabulous job of describing very complicated financial ideas。 The story is engaging and I couldn't put it down。 What is so frustrating is 15 years later and we are back at it again。 Nothing was learned other than politicians will bail out the big businesses so there is no need to fear。 I believe in capitalism， I am a cheerleader for capitalism but I don't know how to reconcile that with what continues to happen in this country when greedy wall street insiders destroy so much wealth and stick it to the little guy。 The government doesn't look out for the little guy。 They are too busy with their hands out for more payoffs from the insiders they are supposed to police。 Great book but it will probably make your stomach churn。 I know it did mine。 。。。more
Steve Harvey
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Even better than the movie
Carolyn
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