Complicit: How Greed and Collusion Made the Credit Crisis Unstoppable (Bloomberg) |  | Author: Mark Gilbert
Publisher: Bloomberg Press
Category: Book
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Rating:  8 reviews
Sales Rank: 204467
Media: Hardcover
Edition: 1
Pages: 192
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.7
Dimensions (in): 9.1 x 6.2 x 1
ISBN: 1576603466
Dewey Decimal Number: 332.17530973
EAN: 9781576603468
ASIN: 1576603466
Publication Date: January 20, 2010
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Product Description
The credit crunch is affecting every investor and every consumer, every industry and every government program, yet few people truly understand how it happened. Subprime mortgages have been center stage, but behind the scenes a conspiracy of greed among bankers, investors, rating agencies and regulators has imperiled everyone's financial future. We need to know what went wrong and how to change the practices that led to this calamity. Bloomberg columnist Mark Gilbert shows how Wall Street's tolerance for extremes made the global credit crunch both foreseeable and inevitable. He offers a blow-by-blow account of what went wrong and what lessons need to be learned from the crisis. - Gilbert's argument—that everyone with skin in the money game had a vested interest in pretending that nothing could go awry—is a well-defended, compelling indictment of the financial community.
- Gilbert is able to make complex financial events easy to understand.
- His outlook is truly global: this financial crisis respects no geographical boundaries, and Gilbert draws on anecdotes and examples from around the world to make his case.
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Showing reviews 1-5 of 8
Complicit January 27, 2010
Ellen P. Lafleche-christian (Vermont, USA)
9 out of 11 found this review helpful
There aren't many people who can say they've sailed through this latest financial blip unscathed. Most of us have been impacted in some way or another. Many of us have looked for someone to blame the credit crisis on. Mark Gilbert thinks we're all to blame either by active participation or by being bystanders.
In Complicit: How greed and collusion made the credit crisis unstoppable, he explains why. The securities industry grew with leaps and bounds over the past few years and society as a whole reaped the rewards of freely available credit at super-low interest rates. The global financial authorities like the government, the banks and the money managers all looked the other way while lining their pockets.
The list of those to blame doesn't stop there. Realtors freely took advantage of the increase in home buying and appraised houses at fictitious levels. Banks and credit unions lent money to people who had no hope of paying back their mortgages. Homeowners bought properties at rates they knew they wouldn't be able to afford to repay. The average price of a U.S. single family home doubled in the period from 1989 to 2003 from $113,000 to $229,000.
In 2006, at the same time the US housing marketed rocketed, the global derivatives market grew at the fastest pace on record. The total outstanding amount grew by 40% to an amazing $415 trillion according to Gilbert. This uncheck growth could only continue as long as people kept ignorning the warning signs of a coming collapse. In 2006, some markets began to make the connection and the impact of years of risky financial decisions began to be felt.
Mark Gilbert offers an in depth explanation of how this credit crisis grew to the point where it was felt around the world. He explains how each segment of the market was involved in the crisis and backs up his findings with facts, figures and percentages.
If you want to understand how this became a crisis so that you can be aware of the warning signs if it happens again, I highly recommend this informative read.
Future Classic? February 10, 2010
R. Pearson (Zurich)
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
Gilbert sets out the timeline and triggers for the Global Recession in an easy-to-read style that will appeal to all and is well enough explained for those outside of the City to follow easily.
None of the "I single-handedy invented the CDO market" or "I told you it was going to happen in my previous book" rubbish but an in-depth explanation from a man who was sat in the Bloomberg news room watching it all unfold.
"Complicit" has the potential to be compulsory reading for future generations wishing to try and learn from the mistakes that were made.
Credit crunch for dummies February 10, 2010
A. James (Oxford, England)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Mark's orange-box approach to finance is always refreshing. As in his regular columns, Complicit avoids financial jargon, and shuns the usual splurge of rumour and myth. His specialty is often in spotting the obvious when everyone else has missed it, which makes the credit crisis an ideal target. But the book also carries a harsh message which is that if you allow yourself to be uniformed about something that matters, you can't then complain when it smacks you on the back of your head. In essence, we let the "bankers" turn the health of the global economy into their day spa. If we don't step up and take charge, it will happen again, and again. If you don't let someone take advantage of you, they can't take advantage of you... Mark says it's time to take charge... I'd recommend this book as compulsory reading for economics students at every level and anyone who has even a casual interest in finance and markets.
Great Read! February 10, 2010
Mark Gelbart (Dallas, TX)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I really enjoyed reading into the small details that captured what exactly went on when the money markets froze. From the plethora of books I have read about the crisis, I found Complicit to be the most engaging and clear. As a first-year undergraduate student it has been a perfect time to witness the cataclysmic events that took place over the course of 2008-2009 (and some that are yet to come).
I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants a deeper analysis and broader understanding of the crisis that nearly brought down the banking system.
The world viewed from London February 13, 2010
William J. Darusmont (San Francisco, CA)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I first met Mark in London several years ago when he was covering a conference for Bloomberg News. Since then I have read all of his Bloomberg posts including a chapter from this book.
I find him insightful and with a dry wit. But the main thing is we Americans tend to view the world from Washington or New York. As a result we miss much of what is occurring, especially when our economists and talking heads don't realize there are people out there not making $250,000 or more, which is why they do not understand what is happening. Like the FT and The Economist, Mark provides that perspective.
There are two books which I believe you should consider to accompany this book:
Simon Johnson, "13 Bankers: The Wall Street Takeover and the Next Financial Meltdown"
and
Edward M. Gramlich, "Subprime Mortgages; America's Latest Boom or Bust"
Both of these men have done a great service...perhaps they and Mark can wake us up before it is too late.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 8
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