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The Housing Boom and Bust |  | Author: Thomas Sowell
Publisher: Basic Books
Category: Book
List Price: $24.95
Buy New: $0.99
as of 3/10/2010 07:50 CST details
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Seller: ebooksweb*
Rating:  108 reviews
Sales Rank: 35279
Media: Hardcover
Edition: 1
Pages: 192
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.9
Dimensions (in): 9.3 x 6.1 x 0.9
ISBN: 0465018807
Dewey Decimal Number: 332.720973
EAN: 9780465018802
ASIN: 0465018807
Publication Date: April 24, 2009
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| • | ISBN13: 9780465018802 | | • | Condition: NEW | | • | Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark. |
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Product Description
This is a plain-English explanation of how we got into the current economic disaster that developed out of the economics and politics of the housing boom and bust. The “creative” financing of home mortgages and the even more “creative” marketing of financial securities based on American mortgages to countries around the world, are part of the story of how a financial house of cards was built up—and then suddenly collapsed. The politics behind all this is another story full of strange twists. No punches are pulled when discussing politicians of either party, the financial dangers they created, or the distractions they created later to escape their own responsibility for what happened when the financial house of cards in the financial markets collapsed. What to do, now that we are in the midst of an economic disaster, is yet another story—one whose ending we do not yet know, but one whose outlines and implications are explored to reveal some surprising and sobering lessons.
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 108
 Very well-written, well-argued, great explanations February 8, 2010
Ron Cronovich (Kenosha, WI)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
I'm an economics professor and used this book in a course for non-econ majors about the economic crisis. Most of these students were 18 yrs old and never had any econ course before. Judging from the excellent class discussions we had about each chapter and their performance on the exams, it is clear that the book really engaged these students and they really learned a LOT from it.
I mention this because I suspect many folks considering this book are NOT economics majors and want a book that explains things very clearly. If that describes you, Sowell will surpass your expectations. This book is very well-written, his arguments are persuasive and intelligent but you don't have to have any background to appreciate them.
While Sowell's book is very readable for non-economics majors, I would also say that econ and finance majors will not feel that Sowell is condescending to them; I have used this book in an upper level course for econ and finance majors, and the students gave the book high marks.
The title accurately describes the scope of the book - it contains little to no discussion of credit default swaps and collateralized default obligations, does not talk too much about the credit crunch, the "shadow banking sector" and other aspects of the economic crisis. He focuses on the housing bubble, which of course is not entire crisis but is at the very heart of the crisis.
And just in case you didn't pick this up from the other reviews here, Sowell writes from a very conservative perspective. I'm pretty centrist, but I like reading and being challenged by the great thinkers from different perspectives.
My only caution to the young reader of Sowell is to not jump to the conclusion that Sowell's perspective is "the" correct perspective, but rather treat it as a very valuable perspective that we can all learn from, but also seek out other insightful perspectives, such as Krugman's "Return of Depression Economics", Posner's "A Failure of Capitalism", and the new book by Joseph Stiglitz called "Freefall: America, Free Markets, and the Sinking of the World Economy."
Concise review of the major players involved February 2, 2010
Gift Card Customer (Miami, FL)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Dr. Sowell's book containes a concise detailing of the institutions and policy involved in crafting the housing bubble. He takes his sources mostly from newspaper anecdotes and uses them to examine the government policy at work in distorting the mortgage market by promoting homeownership fervently. He further explains the consequences of land-use restrictions in causing the elevated real estate values often found in cities on the west coast even before the onset of the bubble or bust. Far from the usual explanations, the book shows how reckless lending practices were encouraged by government policy through the government-sponsorded entities buying excessive amounts of mortgage debt and removing the risk of default from the lender. An overwhelming part of the blame for this crisis should lie with congress and the GSEs, but won't because congress would never subject itself to the scrutiny of a congressional hearing.
The Housing Boom and Bust January 29, 2010
Dean W. Dreibelbis (Lincoln University, PA USA)
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
Thomas Sowell makes complex economic situations clearer than anyone else.
Only he has pointed out the relationships in the housing boom that they are local, not national, and appear only in the areas where land-use restrictions caused real estate prices to soar.
Brilliant! I loved reading this book.
Best Explanation of the Genesis of the Mortgage Crisis January 25, 2010
ironman96 (Ohio)
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
There is a lot of blame to go around in regard to the recent economic downturn precipitated by the mortgage crisis. Many politicians and their allies in the media are quick to point the finger in one direction (banks and Wall Street), partly as a way to divert attention from their own responsibility (putting regulations in place incentivising individuals to take out loans they could not afford). In this book, Dr. Sowell goes back to the beginning of the story and shows how the mortgage crisis actually came to be. It was not a result of too little government intervention in the free market, as politicians and the media would have you believe, it was actually the result of too much government intervention. Ironically, these politicians are calling for further government intervention as a proposed solution. As the author points out, their "solutions" are merely a patch to a problem caused by previous "solutions" which were a patches to problems caused by other "solutions." Dr. Sowell is a must read for the layperson who wants a better understanding of economics. I also highly recommend his books "The Vision of the Anointed" and "Basic Economics."
 Intellectually dishonest January 20, 2010
C. Matthiessen (Bothell, WA)
4 out of 30 found this review helpful
This book is intellectually dishonest. Mr. Sowell distorts statistics, facts, and quotes to fit his agenda while railing against others who do the same. There is not one footnote in the book, only a collection of references in the back. This makes fact checking incredibly, and intentionally, laborious.
Mr. Sowell gloated in a column promoting this book, "Most people don't have time to spend digging into the Congressional Record and other sources to find out the ugly truth being covered up by the blizzard of lies coming out of Washington and echoed in much of the media. But my research assistants do that for a living, and it is all presented in a book of mine titled "The Housing Boom and Bust" that has just been published."
Apparently Mr. Sowell doesn't have time either, and maybe he should look for some more honest research assistants. In the book he quotes Barney Frank as having said, "I want to roll the dice a little bit more in this situation." This quote is, first of all, inaccurate and secondly, taken out of context. What Mr. Frank said back in September of 2003 hearing about whether or not to move oversight of the GSEs to Treasury (years before the boom in subprime lending) was: "I want to LOAD the dice a little bit more in this situation towards subsidized housing." His point being that if they were moved to Treasury, they would be little different than an ordinary bank.
"Roll the dice," implies outright gambling and provokes an angry emotional reaction.
"Load the dice," implies weighting a given outcome - not so emotional, and not so good for selling books.
When citing quotations it is intellectually (AND GLARINGLY!) dishonest to change the words to suit your agenda. Now this inaccurate quote has spread everywhere including FOX News, the Wall Street Journal, and all over the internet. Mr. Sowell's "ugly" inaccuracy has already succeeded in its attempts at poisoning the discourse. Here is a link to Mr. Frank's ACTUAL statement:
[...]
Further review reveals just how out of context the statement is taken.
In a conniving attempt at appearing nonpartisan, Mr. Sowell occasionally mentions Republican actors in the crime (despite the fact that they were the majority party at the time). However, one will note that all of the Republicans mentioned have either had their terms expire, retired, or announced their retirement. In short, they are now inconsequential. In contrast, he repeatedly attacks Barney Frank and Chris Dodd, Democrats, and the most powerful figures in the House and Senate Finance Committees today (Dodd announced his retirement after the book was published). Further, he makes little mention of the investment banks and dishonest mortgage brokers who bear a great deal of the responsibility for the crisis.
Mr. Sowell contradicts himself by calling for decreased regulation, while simultaneously blaming Democratic politicians for failing to adequately regulate the market - despite their attempts to, and the fact that they were in the minority in Congress.
Mr. Sowell points to Houston, Texas as some sort of urban paradise(!) despite the fact that he, himself, chooses to live in the exclusive Palo Alto area of California. I wonder if, perhaps he, himself, got burned by a dishonest loan peddler, and this book is how he aims to recoup his losses!
This book is an overly focused, simplistic, and ideological view of the housing crises. It reminded me of reading Edward Bellamy's book of the opposite ideology "Looking Backward." In fact, if one chooses to read this book, perhaps they should read Bellamy as the antidote. I don't recommend either as a glimpse at reality.
If you like FOX News, and enjoy being told what you already believe, then this will be an enjoyable work of fiction for you. If you enjoy honesty, content, and really want to learn something about the housing crisis, skip it.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 108
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