And Then the Roof Caved In

by David Faber

Book Overview

CNBC's David Faber takes an in-depth look at the causes and consequences of the recent financial collapse

And Then the Roof Caved In lays bare the truth of the credit crisis, whose defining emotion at every turn has been greed, and whose defining failure is the complicity of the U.S. government in letting that greed rule the day. Written by CNBC's David Faber, this book painstakingly details the truth of what really happened with...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0470474238
• ISBN13: 9780470474235
• Release Date: June 2009
• Publisher: Wiley
• Length: 208 Pages
• Weight: 0.90 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.3" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

Amazing book!

The Fed Chairman Bernanke should read this book if he really wants to understand what happened that cause the financial meltdown. I think anyone who is confused about how derivatives work and the incentives that lead to the meltdown on Wall Street, this is the best book that explains it to the average person. A must read!!

Pretty good explanation of what happened

There are other books on the market that explain the series of events that led our country into the mess that we are in. I found this book to be a very accurate representation of what really happened. Wall Street had an unbelievable appetite for mortgage-backed securities. As a result, banks and mortgage companies did what Wall Street wanted - they delivered it to them even if it meant making loans to people who could not repay. But what did they care, they were just passing the problem to someone else. This economic crisis was fueled by greed and stupidity. This is a great book for those who are looking for answers about how we found ourselves in the economic crisis. - Mariusz Skonieczny, author of Why Are We So Clueless about the Stock Market? Learn how to invest your money, how to pick stocks, and how to make money in the stock market

I really enjoyed this book

I didn't see the tv show. I liked how the book was laid out and how it explained what actually happened and why. It was very enlightening and entertaining to me.

Clear insightful and accurate

As someone who experienced the mortgage securitization mania, and the rise of credit default swaps while at Lehman Brothers during the first half of the decade, I found this book to be an excellent post mortem on the "what and why" of the housing debacle and recession. It is not intended to be a scholarly tome, but instead a straightforward explanation of the easy money and loose lending times, including what broke down, how all of the parties (including home buyers, mortgage brokers, Wall St, the rating agencies, and the Government) acted in their own self interest to create the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to understand exactly how we got into the mess we're currently in, and how disingenuous our lawmakers are when they point fingers at everyone involved except themselves.

A Fantastic Primer On What REALLY Happened And Why

David Faber has written an excellent history of the financial collapse of 2007-2008 and beyond. He does a yeoman's job of wrangling difficult facts and virtually impossible-to-understand financial instruments into a comprehensible story, explaining the economic insanity through individuals who occupy the various roles. He answers the main question most people have about this mess ("Why would banks lend money to people they KNEW could not pay it back?") and along the way debunks the most popular but incorrect answer ("The government forced them to with the Community Reinvestment Act and subsequent regulation.") Faber specifically explains why that explanation is not accurate, and then explains the even more unbelievable truth of why this occurred. This book should be a great starting point for anyone who is caught in the aftermath wondering what happened. By the time you finish it, you will be conversant in the entire topic, and ready to tackle more arcane explanations with the vocabulary and big-picture items firmly understood. One editorial note: Either Mr. Faber or his editors (or both) consistently misuse the word "comprise" and its various forms, and the book consistently uses "insure" when it should use "ensure" (which is particularly confusing in the context of a discussion of insurance products). But these small nits aside, the book is a terrific one-day read, well worth the price of admission.