I recently finished reading one of the best books I have ever read, The Big Short by Michael Lewis.
Lewis wrote his first book, Liar’s Poker, in 1989 when he was in his 20′s, and this was one of the few books that almost all of my finance industry colleagues had read. (Although people took very different things out of the book, which was a particular frustration for Lewis who meant it as a tale of caution rather than a how-to guide).
The Big Short is a brilliant account of what we now know as the “GFC”, seen from the perspective of some key hedge fund managers that saw what was coming and took big bets against the conventional wisdom at the time… and made enormous sums doing it. To them it seemed so obvious that what was happening was unsustainable, yet so many thought otherwise that they often felt they must be wrong, stupid, or both.
The book combines an amazingly understandable explanation of some extrememly complex financial transactions, with the character development and suspense of a great thriller – not an easy thing to do!
I cannot recommend this book enough, and have told people ranging from past investment colleagues through to my Dad, that it is worth reading.
You can get it shipped free from my favorite online bookstore, , or if you need it today and don’t care about price, at all local bookstores.
Trust me, you won’t regret reading this book.
