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| The Trillion Dollar Meltdown: Easy Money, High Rollers, and the Great Credit Crash | 
 enlarge | Author: Charles R. Morris
Publisher: PublicAffairs
Category: Book
List Price: $22.95
Buy New: $13.90
You Save: $9.05 (39%)
New (38) Used (13) from $12.33
Avg. Customer Rating:  45 reviews
Sales Rank: 401
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 224
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.8
Dimensions (in): 8.3 x 5.5 x 0.8
ISBN: 1586485636
Dewey Decimal Number: 332.04150973
EAN: 9781586485634
ASIN: 1586485636
Publication Date: March 3, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: EXCELLENT 13468
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Product Description
We are living in the most reckless financial environment in recent history. Arcane credit derivative bets are now well into the tens of trillions. According to Charles R. Morris, the astronomical leverage at investment banks and their hedge fund and private equity clients virtually guarantees massive disruption in global markets. The crash, when it comes, will have no firebreaks. A quarter century of free-market zealotry that extolled asset stripping, abusive lending, and hedge fund secrecy will come crashing down with it. The Trillion Dollar Meltdown explains how we got here, and what is about to happen. After the crash our priorities will be quite different. But things are likely to get worse before they better. Whether you are an active investor, a homeowner, or a contributor to your 401(k) plan, The Trillion Dollar Meltdown will be indispensable to understanding the gross excess that has put the world economy on the brink—and what the new landscape will look like.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 40 more reviews...
 Makes the Incomprehensible Comprehensible March 23, 2008
85 out of 91 found this review helpful
This is a great book for those of you like me who are not in the financial services industry but who want to understand why our economy is melting down as we speak. It will also help you understand why this upcoming election is so important: The author describes the seismic ideological shifts over the last 40 years, from the Liberal/Keynsian era that imploded in the late 70s, to the current dying embers of the Chicago-School free market ideology that has held sway from Reagan up to the present moment. The author believes it is time once again for the pendulum to swing in the direction of more activist, socially conscious government intervention. He is not a liberal ideologue but a former banker who comes to his conclusions based on objectivity, knowledge, and lucid thought. The integrity of his thinking shines through every page. This is not always an easy book to read; due to the subject matter it is rife with all sorts of financial industry acronyms and terms like "tranch" and "quant" and "put", but don't let that throw you. Just keep reading with the big picture in mind and it will all come together in the end. It's well worth the effort!
must read March 16, 2008
74 out of 87 found this review helpful
I rated this book 4 stars for its timeliness.
In my opinion, most people do not even begin to understand what is going on in the credit market and those who could are either in self-denial or lying to the public. This book is an excellent primer on the subject.
I expect that by the time more in-depth books are written the problem will be evident for all to see.
The last chapter, although well intentioned, is highly opinionated. However, the rest of the book is objective.
Well written, great perspective March 17, 2008
71 out of 78 found this review helpful
I am learning a lot reading this, even though I've followed the economy for years. The preface summarizes the situation and outlines the book, but is maybe slightly dense and technical for the average person. But the first chapter is great for giving perspective on how the US economy has evolved, especially the troubles of the stagflation period and what caused that. The book goes up to November 2007, with a clear understanding that the credit bubble was going to have to unwind, and it was either going to cost $1 trillion, or, if the government tried to paper it over, a lot more.
Previous post is misleading March 26, 2008
42 out of 52 found this review helpful
I want to clarify the previous poster's statement, which is misleading: "Mr. Morris: don't say "'I told you so' when you were saying 'c'mon, everybody!' not too long ago."
In fact, Morris wrote that book in 1991, 17 years ago. That is "not too long ago"? And in fact, Morris was correct at that time as well. If you had entered the stock market then time you would be very well off indeed, as what he wrote turned out to be extremely accurate. Especially if you had taken the advice of his current book and gotten out of the market during the time when he was writing this book.
1991-1992 was a period of recession by the way. Real estate was dropping like a stone. The market looked risky and over-valued. I took my mother out of the market at that time and boy was I surprised when the market took off, for exactly the reasons Morris spelled out (I hadn't read his book). Morris may have changed his tune in the past 17 years, but times have changed too. He has called the tune correctly, then and now.
Illuminating March 28, 2008
22 out of 26 found this review helpful
This is the best explanation of the credit crunch that I have seen to date. Most writers on this subject try to "simplify" their descriptions of CDOs, SIVs etc. in the mistaken belief that they are helping the reader. Instead all that happens is that the average reader never gets to understand what's really going on.
Morris explains the nitty gritty of these financial instruments in good, clear English and that in itself makes the book worth the price.
I would have given this book 5 stars, but for the last chapter. I was hoping for Morris' input on how (and when) this crisis will pan out, and what businees model banks will adopt now that the present one is so broken. Unfortunately Morris gets diverted into a diatribe on health care and other interesting but irrelevant matters, and we never really find out much about his vision of the new world post 2008. That's a shame - but read the book anyway if you want to really understand what's going on in the world of finance today.
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