"Whoops!" by John Lanchester

Date: 20 February 2010 20:13:54

My other we're-all-doomed book was this actually very enjoyable account of the recent/ongoing financial crisis. The author is a journalist who writes on economics for the London Review of Books (amongst other things) and this is a by-a-layperson-for-lay-people account of what caused the economic crisis. As someone who is a. not an economist and b. not actually at all interested in economics and c. a bit dim about all that sort of thing, this was a thoroughly readable and even entertaining overview which has given me much more of an idea about financial stuff, and also had me shaking my head in disbelief at how things which would be obvious to anyone at all came as such a surprise to the bankers. For example, a lot of the financial system was based on faulty mathematical models, which seemed to show that the odds of sub-prime borrowers (with poor repayment and credit histories and minimal income to pay back their loans) defaulting on their loans were the same odds as winning the UK National Lottery 20 weeks in a row. Hello???!!!!!! Again, definitely recommended. Even though its premise might sound a bit dull, it actually was surprisingly good holiday reading, and I finished it in a few days.