The Credit Crunch : Housing Bubbles, Globalisation and the Worldwide Economic Crisis

I found the book fascinating. It explained a number of economic trends I had observed but did not correctly understand. I developed a much better understanding of what happened over the last couple of years and even continues today. My only critique is that I wish Mr. Turner had done more with recommendations on how to fix the imbalances he has highlighted. The book left me depressed knowing that things are moving in the wrong direction and the politicians seem to not understand why... even if they did, I believe they would not have the will to change course. I'm looking forward to the next book and hoping to learn more. This book argues that the current financial turmoil signals a crisis in globalisation that will directly challenge the free market economic model. Graham Turner shows that the housing bubbles in the West were deliberately created to mask the damage inflicted by companies shifting production abroad in an attempt to boost profits. As these bubbles burst, economic growth in many developed countries will inevitably tumble. The Japanese crisis of the 1990's shows that banks and governments may struggle to contain the fallout. The problem has not been limited to the US, UK and Europe: housing bubbles have become endemic across wide swathes of emerging market economies. As the West slides, these countries will see an implosion of their credit bubbles too, shaking their faith in the free market. Turner is an experienced and successful economic forecaster, whose opinions are sought by large international banks and top financial journalists. Drawing from his first hand experience of the Japanese property crash of the 1990's, he presents his analysis in a clear and persuasive style, showing that the end of housing market growth spells disaster for neoliberal globalisation CONTENTS......Page 6 List of Tables and Figures......Page 7 Preface......Page 10 Glossary......Page 14 GFC Economics......Page 17 Acknowledgements......Page 18 1 Introduction......Page 20 2 Global Contagion......Page 33 3 Addicted to Debt......Page 45 4 ‘Free Trade’ and Asset Bubbles......Page 67 5 Dealing With the Fallout......Page 103 6 A Global Credit Bubble......Page 128 7 Japan’s Bear Market......Page 154 8 Policy Failures in a Liquidity Trap......Page 178 9 Where Are We Heading?......Page 207 Notes......Page 213 Index......Page 241 Argues that the financial turmoil signals a crisis in globalisation that will challenge the free market economic model. This book shows that the housing bubbles in the West were deliberately created to mask the damage inflicted by companies shifting production abroad in an attempt to boost profits.