The Housing Boom and Bust: Revised Edition

Thomas Sowell

Feb 2010 · Sold by Basic Books

About this ebook

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.

Ratings and reviews

Gives a wonderful in-depth look at what actually happened during the financial crisis of the housing boom/bust. Cuts through all the politics and goes straight to the facts the way Thomas Sowell is known to do.

About the author

Thomas Sowell is a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University. He is the author of dozens of books including Charter Schools and Their Enemies, winner of the 2021 Hayek Book Prize. He is the recipient of numerous other awards, including the National Humanities Medal, presented by the President of the United States in 2003.