Financial Fiasco: How America's Infatuation With Homeownership and Easy Money Created the Financial Crisis

Financial Fiasco digs deep into the foundation of the economic meltdown, revealing how it was the product of conscious actions by decision makers in companies, government agencies, political institutions, and consumers. An easily accessible work written for general readers, Financial Fiasco tells the compelling story of how rate cutting by the Federal Reserve inflated the real estate market and fueled increased risk-taking in the financial markets; how new government policies to promote home ownership blasted air into the credit bubble; how new financial instruments, credit-rating requirements, and accounting rules intended to prevent cheating backfired; and much more. Financial Fiasco guides readers through a world of irresponsible behavior, warns that many of the solutions being implemented are repeating the mistakes that caused the crisis, and offers guidance on how to move forward. ""The story of this storm in the global markets is the story of how government intervention to solve previous crises laid the foundation for a new one," writes Johan Norberg in his important new book. Tracing the causes of our current financial crisis with liveliness and clarity, Financial Fiasco shows the mistakes made in Washington, on Wall Street, and in communities across America that led to the economic meltdown. While many analysts have placed the blame solely on Wall Street, Norberg exposes the crucial role government regulation played in creating the opportunities and incentives that led to the financial collapse." "In six concise chapters, Financial Fiasco tells the complex story of the crisis, showing how monetary policy, housing policy, and financial innovations combined to create financial catastrophe. The final two chapters describe the government's mismanagement of the crisis and how we are now dangerously repeating many of the very same mistakes that caused it. An understanding of the roots of the financial crisis is crucial for every American who has felt its effects - and would like to prevent the same disaster from happening again. Financial Fiasco provides that understanding, with great insight, clarity, and wit." "Just as important, the book serves as a profound warning against pursuing the wrong solutions. "After government authorities had helped create the worst financial crisis in generations, the climate of ideas has now shifted dramatically in the direction of bigger and more active government," Norberg writes. Financial Fiasco is the perfect antidote to those ideas, a cautionary tale on how to stop confusing the disease with the cure."--Jacket How was it possible that in a world where thousands of people regulated financial markets the whole system crashed down? And should we now give more power to central banks, government agencies, politicians, and regulators? Isn't that what brought us here in the first place? Financial Fiasco digs deep into the foundation of the economic meltdown, revealing how it was the product of conscious actions by decisionmakers in companies, government agencies, and political institutions, and by consumers. Financial Fiasco tells the compelling story of how rate-cutting by the Federal Reserve inflated the real estate market and fueled increased risk-taking in the financial markets; how new government policies to promote home ownership blasted air into the credit bubble; how new financial instruments, credit-rating requirements, and accounting rules intended to prevent cheating backfired; and much more. Financial Fiasco guides readers through a world of irresponsible behavior, warns that many of the "solutions" being implemented are repeating the mistakes that caused the crisis, and offers guidance on how to move forward Financial Fiasco digs deep into the foundation of the economic meltdown, revealing how it was the product of conscious actions by decision-makers in companies, government agencies, political institutions and consumers. An easily accessible work written for general readers, Financial Fiasco guides readers through a world of irresponsible behavior, shows how many of the "solutions" being implemented are repeating the mistakes that caused the crisis and offers guidance on how to move forward. To work our way out the economic crisis, and to avoid such meltdowns in the future, we must fully understand how it happened. The chief culprits are now trying to pin the blame on one another—with Congress pointing at Wall Street, financiers blaming the Federal Reserve, who in turn point back to Congress.

Now newly expanded, with a with a new chapter on the spreading global economic crisis, Financial Fiasco guides readers through a world of irresponsible behavior by consumers, decisionmakers in companies, government agencies, and political institutions.

Preemptive keynesianism Castles in the air How to build financial weapons of mass destruction Hurricane season Madly in all directions Tomorrow capitalism.