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hollyd19 's review for:
informative
medium-paced
A fascinating look at the 2008 crash / housing crisis as delivered by Ryan Dezember who was both reporting on real estate for the Press-Register and experiencing the roller coaster first-hand as a homeowner on the Gulf Coast. Interspersing a well-researched report with personal anecdotes, Dezember paints a thorough picture of both the speculation frenzy and the devastation of the crash on Average Joe homeowners.
Honestly, after I finished this, I had a hard time sleeping because it was upsetting to realize just how much control Wall Street investors and banks have over situations like this one. The final few chapters talk about new research that shows the blame for the crash has been misattributed to overstretched home buyers when in reality it was investors and flippers who strategically foreclosed that were responsible for the scale of the crash. He also covers the new “Wall-Street-as-landlord” paradigm coupled with Silicon Valley-backed AI for finding suitable listings and y’all, it was wild (and terrifying, to be honest).
I learned a ton and the book was very well-written. My only (mild) criticism is that there were a few chapters that were particularly dense on technical details of loans and bonds and other financial concepts that was a little hard to follow, but I’m also no economic expert, so it may have just gone over my head.
Honestly, after I finished this, I had a hard time sleeping because it was upsetting to realize just how much control Wall Street investors and banks have over situations like this one. The final few chapters talk about new research that shows the blame for the crash has been misattributed to overstretched home buyers when in reality it was investors and flippers who strategically foreclosed that were responsible for the scale of the crash. He also covers the new “Wall-Street-as-landlord” paradigm coupled with Silicon Valley-backed AI for finding suitable listings and y’all, it was wild (and terrifying, to be honest).
I learned a ton and the book was very well-written. My only (mild) criticism is that there were a few chapters that were particularly dense on technical details of loans and bonds and other financial concepts that was a little hard to follow, but I’m also no economic expert, so it may have just gone over my head.