The Definitive Financial Meltdown Exposé:
Now completely updated to include discussions of the
Obama administration’s many policy initiatives and proposed solutions.
•Includes expanded coverage of the market meltdown, the
bailout bill and stimulus plans, the bank rescue plan, and the foreclosure mitigation plan
• Sifting the wreckage, fixing the blame: the roles of
mortgage lenders, investment bankers, speculators, the real estate industry, regulators,
the Fed, and homebuyers
• Tomorrow’s emerging financial shocks—and how to
prevent them
Dr. Mark Zandi is chief economist and cofounder of Moody’s
Economy.com, an independent subsidiary of Moody’s that provides economic research and
consulting services to businesses, governments, and other institutions. His recent
research has included studying determinants of mortgage foreclosure and personal
bankruptcy; analyzing economic impacts of tax and government spending policies; and
assessing policy responses to bubbles in asset markets. He has appeared on NBC’s Meet
the Press, NBC News, CBS News, CNN, CNBC, and has served as an economic advisor to John
McCain’s presidential campaign and the Obama administration. Zandi holds a Ph.D. from
the University of Pennsylvania where he did research with Gerard Adams and Nobel Laureate
Lawrence Klein.
Table of Cotents
Acknowledgments . . . viii
About the Author . . . ix
Introduction . . . 1
Chapter 1: Subprime Précis . . . 9
Chapter 2: Sizing Up Subprime . . . 33
Chapter 3: Everyone Should Own a Home . . . 49
Chapter 4: Chairman Greenspan Counts on Housing . . . 67
Chapter 5: Global Money Men Want a Piece . . . 81
Chapter 6: Bad Lenders Drive Out the Good . . . 97
Chapter 7: Financial Engineers and Their Creations . . . 113
Chapter 8: Home Builders Run Aground . . . 131
Chapter 9: As the Regulatory Cycle Turns . . . 145
Chapter 10: Boom, Bubble, Bust, and Crash . . . 161
Chapter 11: Credit Crunch . . . 175
Chapter 12: Timid Policymakers Turn Bold . . . 193
Chapter 13: Economic Fallout . . . 233
Chapter 14: Back to the Future . . . 251
Endnotes . . . 273
Index . . . 285
304 pages, Paperback