The Subprime Virus

In the recent glut of titles on the subprime-mortgage crisis, this book fills the gap between watered-down pop accounts and esoteric economic analyses. The text presumes no previous knowledge and takes a bootstrap approach to getting quickly up-to-speed with an expansive and thorough look at the causes, duration, and effect of the subprime mortgage meltdown. The detailed discussion of tranche securities—and especially the problems derived from "spinning gold" from a seemingly never-ending stream of what were essentially mortgage futures and options—as well as short-sighted financial devices like credit default swaps, is especially enlightening. Also valuable is the nonpartisan look at failed reform measures from the Cash for Clunkers program to the FDIC's "Mod[ified Loan] in a Box." The information is appropriate for an upper-division college course, but the style remains very accessible.