This was one of the more interesting books that I've read about the financial crisis. The book deals exclusively with the experience of Washington Mut...moreThis was one of the more interesting books that I've read about the financial crisis. The book deals exclusively with the experience of Washington Mutual, covering its long road from a local bank to one of the largest mortgage lenders in the country. The book does a good job of explaining how the personalities of those running the company changed the bank's culture and led it to make increasingly risky loans. This is a major advantage of the book, as most other books about the financial crisis spend more time covering what happened during the crisis. The book is also very well written.(less)
This was a good book. Unlike most other books on the crisis, it spent most of its timing asking "how did we get here" and not "what happened when thin...moreThis was a good book. Unlike most other books on the crisis, it spent most of its timing asking "how did we get here" and not "what happened when things started to go bad." It also seemed to have far less of an ideological opinion of the crisis than some books that have attempted to pin the crisis on a small limited group of factors (e.g., policies to promote affordable housing). (less)