Comments on: The 10 books to help you understand the crisis

By: farmera1

farmera1 — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 12:46:35 +0000

Greenspan, is public enemy no. 1.

Read his book, AGE OF TURBULENCE, it gives a clear picture of his “thinking”.
Published in 2007 just before the wheels fell off, the book leaves no doubt about where he was coming from. And in my mind, his own book fingers him as the central
player in this great financial train wreck.

He had spent a great deal of time at the feet of Ayn Rand, the objectivism thinker, that says to me government is bad, when people act without laws the greater good is served etc.

In his book, Greenspan defends mountains of debt as no problem (all countries do it), unregulated derivatives as a great positive financial innovation, he makes it obvious that he believes unfettered markets will solve all problems.

He did address one question I had, how did anyone like Greenspan that thought government and regulation were bad, end up running the biggest central planning agency in the world (the FED) since the Kremlin fell. Greenspan’s explanation in his book was that he could do more “good” on the inside than he could on the outside handing out pamphlets. The world would have been much better off if Greenspan hadn’t replaced Volcker as FED chairman.

If you want to get an understanding of the thinking of the central character in this great tragedy we are in, read Greenspan’s book.

By: Jack McHugh

Jack McHugh — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 18:19:09 +0000

Bill Fleckenstein’s book, “Greenspan’s Bubbles: The Age of Ignorance at the Fed” should be on this list. The Maestro’s role in this mess needs to be emphasized, since, in addition to foisting upon the markets a dangerously easy monetary policy, he was operating behind the scenes to break down all the regulatory barriers he philosophically opposed. Bringing down Glass-Steagall, outlawing CDS regulation, allowing leverage ratios to climb, letting mortgage origination standards to slip, encouraging subprime lending, letting Fannie and Freddie get way out over their skis, and removing the dentures of as many regulators as possible can all be laid at Sir Alan’s feet. Bill makes an excellent case that Greenspan should be considered public enemy number one when looking for suspects responsible for the financial crisis and the Great Recession.

By: CPB

CPB — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 16:37:36 +0000

Animal spirits is a great book, agree. Since you mention a book on “psychology” in your top 10, why isn’t “Psychology of the Call” not part of your blog roll?

Great week wished, CPB

By: RonSen

RonSen — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 00:31:30 +0000

Peter Warburton’s “Debt and Delusion”

Warburton identifies the Federal Reserve’s enthusiasm to create credit bubbles which inevitably lead to diminishing credit quality. Basically Warburton calls the crisis writing in the late 90s with the Fed cooperating as though they intended to make the biggest errors in monetary history.

By: gloppie

gloppie — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 20:32:06 +0000

I’m re-reading “Infectious Greed” How Deceit and Risk Corrupted the Financial Markets by Frank Partnoy
and although it was written in 2003, a surprising amount of companies that are part of the recent meltdown are already named. It clearly shows that regulator have been asleep at the wheel for the last decade.
This book also illustrate how competitive market should really work; you can pick one new for $3.90

ISBN-13: 978-0805072679