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Chain of Blame: How Wall Street Caused the Mortgage and Credit Crisis
written by Paul Muolo, Mathew Padilla
Studio : Wiley
by Wiley
Publisher : Wiley
Released : 2008-07-08
Availability : Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Number of Items : 1
EAN : 9780470292778
Avg. Customer Rating: (based on 15 reviews)
List Price : $27.95
Our Price : $15.55
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Product Description |
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In the summer of 2007, the subprime empire that Wall Street had built all came crashing down. On average, fifty lenders a month were going bust-and the people responsible for the crisis included not just unregulated loan brokers andcon artists, but also investment bankers and home loan institutions traditionally perceived as completely trustworthy. Chain of Blame chronicles this incredible disaster, with a specific focus on the players who participated in such a fundamentally flawed fiasco. Authors Paul Muolo and Mathew Padilla, well-regarded journalists for National Mortgage News and the Orange County Register respectively, reveal the truth behind how this crisis occurred, what individuals and institutions-from lenders and brokers to some of the biggest investment banks in the world-were doing during this critical time, and who is ultimately responsible for what happened. |
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Money Crisis |
An easy & engaging read. It connected most, if not all, of
the financial dots for me. |
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There is a missing link in this chain |
I really liked this book - it is well written and describes the main actors of the mortgage market meltdown in a very engaging way. Back in the mid-90s I was working as an analyst for a bank that participated in syndicates that underwrote warehousing lines of credit for - among others, for Countrywide - and provided other services for mortgage companies. The authors explain very well how the how the mortgage markets work: from the homebuyer to the (far removed) overseas investor. They point out where the system may (and did) brake and how the unrealistic assumption about ever appreciating real estate market made many quite smart people lose their wits.
So, what we see in the course of the book are a lot of "greedy" business people. However, they did not operate in a vacuum and what is missing in the book is the "greedy" consumer. I'm not taking away any responsibility from unscrupulous mortgage brokers, but they dealt with the consumer that threw caution through the window, too. The "ticking bomb", i.e. ARM resets were described in the loan documents - many just chose to ignore them, basing their "hopes" on the same assumptions as the "savvy" business executives - growing real estate values and low interest rates...Ultimately, shouldn't we all be responsible for prudently managing our finances?
The authors bring an example of foreclosure raved Slavic Village in Cleveland. It is a sad part of the book - but the question comes to mind: why do we need to approach mortgage borrowers like we would easily deceived children?
I think, the book would be more valuable if it addressed this link of the chain, as well.
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"Because thats where the money is" - why crooks rob banks |
Well written, well researched and has the juicy stuff too. A broker standing on his desk yelling at the loan reviewers to go faster, faster, faster in approving loans (so he can get his commission). Great background on Angelo Mozila, the king of subprime, and a fun story about Lewie Ranieri, whose Texas employees thought they were getting a mob boss instead of a banker.
It will make you laugh, and make you cry because government has given away the bank to the crooks again. These crooks are in suits and rob all of us with a pen. U.S. taxpayers, investors, and pension funds will be trying to choke down these bad loans and ABSs for a long time. |
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Chain of Blame |
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This book points fingers and names names and it is high time someone did that. The authors know their subject and the book is well researched and readable. I recommend this, even to someone who is new to the topic. |
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A well written book about nothing |
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Although well written, this book does not really hold a candle to Kevin Phillip's BAD MONEY, or Charles Morris's TRILLION DOLLAR MELTDOWN, in terms of analyzing the causes of the current economic crash. It is more a biographical sketch about some of the principal promoters of the housing bubble. Most of them it turns out were rather mediocre, unimaginative and uninteresting people who would not only not be fun to work for but would probably not be interesting to spend time with either, unless you were being paid. It that sense, the rise and fall of the financial industry is more a story of the guilibility of the victims than the genius of the perpetrators. These were bottom feeders who believed their own propaganda, who contributed nothing of any real or lasting value and who in their own arrogance and stupidity left trails of emails (like Nixon's recordings), which will probably send many of them to jail. |
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