All the Devils Are Here
by Bethany McLean, Joe Nocera · first published 2010
83% recommend17% neutral
Why HN recommends it
A facts-first account of the 2008 financial crisis that explains how the circumstances fit together and shows blame was spread across many players; suited to readers wanting a solid understanding of the crisis.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
According to the authors, both business journalists, no one has put all the pieces of the financial crisis together. This title explores the motivations of everyone from CEOs and politicians to anonymous lenders, borrowers and Wall Street traders. It goes back more than twenty years to reveal, how Wall Street, the mortgage industry, and the government conspired to change the way Americans bought their homes, creating a perfect storm. The authors take us inside elusive institutions such as Goldman Sachs, AIG, and Fannie Mae, to reveal who changed the game and why.
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…pacing and character development --- but had serious concerns about how accurate/unbiased they were. Particularly Sorkin's book, which I've heard negative things about. I'm about 2/3 of the way through _All The Devils Are Here_ by Joe Nocera and feel like it's doing a brilliant job of addressing the shortcomings for Sorkin's book, which I felt maybe sacrificed some accuracy for the sake of building an enjoyable narrative. _Devils_…
on “Ask HN: Best book you read in 2010 and briefly why” ↗I also recommend "All The Devils Are Here" [1] which covers basically the same ground as "Inside Job" the documentary but in more detail. [1] http://www.amazon.com/All-Devils-Are-Here-Financial/dp/15918...
on “Ban email archives thrown open in devastating financial crash report” ↗…Larry Summers being nominated as the next Fed Chairman. It seems very little has been learned. For anyone interested in understanding the events that led to the crisis, I can't recommend highly enough: All the Devils Are Here[1]. Of the many books written on the subject, it provides a very objective and thorough account. [1] http://www.amazon.com/All-Devils-Are-Here-Financial/dp/15918...
on “List of Wall Street CEOs prosecuted for the financial crisis” ↗There are some really good suggestions here about the economics and finance in general. I think having a good solid understanding of the financial crisis is valuable in today's world. I recommend "All the Devils are Here" by Bethany McLean. It offers a well rounded, facts-first approach to explaining the crisis. It does not point fingers or assess blaim, which is a valuable perspective.
on “Ask HN: What are the must-read books about economics/finance?” ↗…the property bubble with the mantra ' the fundamental are sound' and how the worst scanario would be a "soft landing" If you'd like to read about it, the best contemporaneous piece I've read on it is "All the Devils Are Here" - https://www.amazon.com/All-Devils-Are-Here-Financial/dp/1591...
on “How economics became a religion” ↗Bethany McLean is great. I also enjoyed "All The Devils Are Here"
on “Business books are entertainment, not strategic tools” ↗…those and friends: • "Other People's Money" by Kay • "Zombie Banks" • "The Money Problem" • This NY Fed study of shadow banking: https://www.ft.com/content/1a222bf4-f33d-11df-a4fa-00144feab... • "All the Devils are Here"
on “Ask HN: Book recommendations for understanding financial systems?” ↗Did people think "sub prime mortgages" existed solely to inflate bank revenue numbers? Yes. Read _All The Devils Are Here_ for an excellent exposition about how the subprime market was first invented as a vehicle to get private banks out from under the thumb of Fannie Mae, then turned into a vehicle for boiler room speculation,…
on “YouGotListings (YC W11) looks to provide the best tools for real estate” ↗There's better reporting out there on how we found ourselves in this situation. Try "All The Devils Are Here" which is a much better accounting of the circumstances that led to the financial crisis. In short, there isn't one player, or even one industry, that's responsible. There is plenty of blame to go around…
on “Bank of America: Too Crooked to Fail” ↗…of risk involved, or even who ows them money. This happened with Tulips, it happened with Mortgages, and now its happening with Education. There are a lot of good books on bubbles if you dig for them. All the Devils are Here is a good one. The Big Short is good too - once you realize some of those people who got rich betting against housing bubble, are now betting against the education bubble, and have been for 8 years but…
on “Inside Uber’s Aggressive, Unrestrained Workplace Culture” ↗…prices, but can also lead to a bubble. The Fed has indicated that they will raise interest rates soon. To protect yourself first educate yourself on 2008 and the Dot com bubble, read Irrational Exuberance, All the Devils are Here, or watch Money Power and Wall Street, The Big Short, or Inside the Federal Reserve. Hedging this bubble is extremely difficult but physical assets are nice to have. Cash is losing value more quickly…
on “Ask HN: Are We in a Bubble?” ↗…same; it's just that it would be parcelled up a little differently." This claim really does require a citation, because it is quite significant, and is not necessarily true. Bethany McLean (author of "All the Devils are Here" and "The Smartest Guys in the Room") once made a great point about people shorting stocks; she said that they are the only ones looking for bubbles, excesses, and other problems in the stock market and…
on “How Everyone Got the Top 1% Wrong” ↗…on the 08 collapse and the attempts by the government to save all the irresponsible banks, told in too much of a sympathetic way for me but interesting to see how things happened behind the scenes - All the Devils Are Here: on the other hand a very unsympathetic look into the 08 crisis, by the same authors as Smartest Guys in the Room Other: - The Smartest Guys in the Room: my favourite of them all, tells the story of…
on “Mark Zuckerberg overruled 18 wellbeing experts to keep beauty filters on Insta” ↗