Boomerang: Travels in the New Third World
-
- $12.99
-
- $12.99
Publisher Description
“Lewis shows again why he is the leading journalist of his generation.”—Kyle Smith, Forbes
The tsunami of cheap credit that rolled across the planet between 2002 and 2008 was more than a simple financial phenomenon: it was temptation, offering entire societies the chance to reveal aspects of their characters they could not normally afford to indulge.
Icelanders wanted to stop fishing and become investment bankers. The Greeks wanted to turn their country into a piñata stuffed with cash and allow as many citizens as possible to take a whack at it. The Germans wanted to be even more German; the Irish wanted to stop being Irish.
Michael Lewis's investigation of bubbles beyond our shores is so brilliantly, sadly hilarious that it leads the American reader to a comfortable complacency: oh, those foolish foreigners. But when he turns a merciless eye on California and Washington, DC, we see that the narrative is a trap baited with humor, and we understand the reckoning that awaits the greatest and greediest of debtor nations.
Customer Reviews
Boomerang
Three brilliant yet simple explanations in a row of what went wrong with our financial system: Liar's Poker, The Big Short and now Boomerang.
An invaluable and highly-entertaining guide to understanding some of the fiscal mess we are in - a critical first step in trying to clean it up!
Bill Cowie
Connecticut
Boomerang
This book is an excellent overview of how the world leveraged it's future. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in learning about why we can't solve our problems by borrowing more money.
Very Interesting "read"
This is the only book I've "read" on the topic and my first from Mr. Lewis. I don't agree with some of his broad generalizations about the people and cultures of the countries he covers. And since it's the first book I've "read" on the topic, I can't state how accurate it is.
Having said that, I found the book very interesting and easy to listen to. The financial facts did seem agree with what I've heard on various news programs. He seemed to pretty objectively represent the facts as he sees them. This is a very complex topic. So, I'm sure you can find other books with different points of view. He takes a couple of tangents in the book that seem somewhat unrelated and not really relevant (German sayings for example). But these are at least interesting.
I liked the book and would recommend it.
Keep in mind this isn't a Hollywood screenplay....there is no happy ending. But that's not Mr. Lewis's doing.