Financial Shock: A 360º Look at the Subprime Mortgage Implosion, and How to Avoid the Next Financial Crisis (repost)

The subprime crisis created a gigantic financial catastrophe. What happened? How did it happen? How can we prevent similar crises from happening again? Mark Zandi answers all these critical questions—systematically, carefully, and in plain English.
Zandi begins with a fast-paced overview and then illuminates the deepest causes, from the psychology of homeownership to Alan Greenspan’s missteps. You’ll see the home “flippers” at work and the real estate agents who cheered them on. You’ll learn how Internet technology and access to global capital transformed the mortgage industry, helping irresponsible lenders drive out good ones.

Zandi demystifies the complex financial engineering that enabled lenders to hide deepening risks, shows how global investors eagerly bought in, and explains how flummoxed regulators failed to prevent disaster, despite crucial warning signs.
Most important, Zandi offers indispensable advice for investors who must recognize emerging bubbles, policymakers who must improve oversight, and citizens who must survive whatever comes next.

Liar’s loans, flippers, predatory lenders, delusional homebuilders
How the housing market came unhinged, and the whirlwind came together
Alan Greenspan’s trillion-dollar bet
Betting on the boom, ignoring the bubble
The subprime market goes global
Worldwide investors get a piece of the action—and reap the results
Wall Street’s alchemists: conjuring up Frankenstein
New financial instruments and their hidden contents
Back to the future: risk management for the 21st century
Respecting the “animal spirits” that drive even the most sophisticated markets