And Then the Roof Caved In: How Wall Street's Greed and Stupidity Brought Capitalism to Its Knees
Product Description
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 compelling characters who offer their first-hand accounts of what they did and why they did it.
Page by page, Faber explains the events of the previous seven years that planted the seeds for the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. He begins in 2001, when the Federal Reserve embarked on an unprecedented effort to help the economy recover from the attacks of 9/11 by sending interest rates to all time lows. Faber also gives you an up-close look at where the crisis was incubated and unleashed upon the world-Wall Street-and introduces you to insiders from investment banks and mortgage lenders to ratings agencies, that unwittingly conspired to insure lending standards were abandoned in the head long rush for profits.
•Based on two years of research, this book provides deep background into the current credit crisis
•Offers the insights of experienced professionals-from Alan Greenspan to prominent bankers and regulators-who were on the front lines
•Created by David Faber, the face of morning business news on CNBC, and host of the network's award winning documentaries
From regulators who tried to stop this problem before it swung out of control to hedge fund managers who correctly foresaw the coming housing crash and profited from it, And Then the Roof Caved In shows you how the crisis we currently face came to be.
Review
a" fantastic book on the housing meltdown . . .—The Motley Fool
“CNBC’s David Faber delivers a clear-eyed look at the origins of the crisis. . . As an anchor of the Faber Report, the author was on the front lines of the financial crisis and spoke with many of its key players.—Fortune magazine
From the Inside Flap
CNBC's David Faber unmasks the truth behind the economic crisis, whose defining theme at every turn has been greed. Greed that, when coupled with the regulatory failure of the U.S. government, was allowed to rule the day.
And Then the Roof Caved In painstakingly details what really happened to cause the greatest economic collapse since the Great Depression. Written by David Faber—the award-winning correspondent who has covered Wall Street for more than two decades—this compelling story is filled with the firsthand accounts of the bankers and regulators who unleashed this crisis on the world. They tell Faber what they did and why they did it.
Faber traces the lineage of the subprime industry and takes you back to the attacks of 9/11, after which Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan embarked on an unprecedented effort to help the economy recover by sending interest rates to all-time lows. Faber details the precipitous drop in lending standards, which allowed people with marginal incomes to take on mortgages they could not afford, and explains how those mortgages came back to wreck the financial system.
And Then the Roof Caved In also reveals where this crisis was incubated—Wall Street—and introduces you to insiders from investment banks and mortgage lenders who fostered the boom and, in doing so, planted the seeds for such an astonishing economic collapse. Throughout the book, Faber weaves a narrative that takes you from subprime lenders like Quick Loan Funding and big investment banks like Merrill Lynch to regulators who tried to stop the crisis before it spiraled out of control and hedge fund managers who correctly foresaw the coming housing crash and profited from it.
Engaging and informative, And Then the Roof Caved In offers a definitive, up-close and personal analysis of the roots of this stunning worldwide economic failure.
From the Back Cover
And Then the Roof Caved In skillfully explores the causes and consequences of the recent financial collapse. Written by David Faber—the award-winning CNBC correspondent—this compelling account is filled with the candid reflections of the people who brought the crisis to life. Expanded from the CNBC documentary that the New York Times called "broad, comprehensive, and compelling," and that Frank Rich noted as "superbly done," this book is a must-read.
"Historians investigating the financial collapse of '08/'09 must begin by reading this book. This is close-range reporting . . . the work of a veteran financial journalist who was 'present at the creation' of this crisis. Faber has it all, up close¿the people, failures, and greed. He tells us what it was like to be on the inside when the roof caved in."
—Brian Williams, Anchor and Managing Editor, NBC Nightly News
"Faber has written a masterful insider's guide to the implosion of the American financial system. He takes you as close as Greenspan's early worries and then shows you how the disastrous hair-triggers built into the system fired off—and how a few bright minds turned disaster into great fortunes. Faber brings readers right inside his notebook—long regarded as the best in financial news—and emerges with a story that is breathtaking."
—Joshua Ramo, author, The Age of the Unthinkable and Managing Director, Kissinger Associates
"There is no one better than David Faber when it comes to following the financial services business. His incredible access and valuable insights make his reporting a 'must-see' for millions of viewers around the world. Now, he's written a book that is a 'must-read' for anyone who wants to understand how a housing bubble turned into a worldwide economic crisis."
—Joe Kernen, Anchor, CNBC's Squawk Box
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Customer Reviews
And Then the Roof Caved In: How Wall Street's Greed and Stupidity Brought Capitalism to Its Knees
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.
