The Big Short
Michael Lewis
20 people recommended it in 9 threads, 2010–2025.
What people on Hacker News said
Finance is a boring topic generally, but Lewis focuses on the characters and is a superb storyteller. He has a real knack for being able to explain these complex, earth-shattering events in a way that those of us without PhD's in quantitative finance can understand.
Both books are about the financial crisis on Wall Street. They provide excellent insight into how smart people made very bad decisions that had repercussions around the entire world.
All are engaging books, and really walk through how 2008 started and ended through different perspectives of the system.
Well written, does a good job explaining what bond traders were doing before 2008 and why this downturn started. Well worth the read, IMO
The Finance ones surprised me, I had no idea about Wall street and the mechanics/engineering behind it. I still don't like em or trust em, but I did gain quite an amount of respect for the engineering they do.
The Big Short (good telling of the 2007 financial crisis)
Where it comes up
- Ask HN: Book recommendations for understanding financial systems? 2020 · 6 recommendations
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