Published by Allen Lane (£30)
It's been ten years since Lehman Brothers collapsed, turning what was known as the "credit crunch" into the Great Recession. In that time, we've had the eurozone crisis, Brexit and the rise of populism, and plenty of attempts to analyse the causes of the global financial crisis. Few, however, are likely to match Adam Tooze's book in scope, ambition or rigour, says Duncan Weldon in Prospect.
MoneyWeek
Subscribe to MoneyWeek today and get your first six magazine issues absolutely FREE
Sign up to Money Morning
Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter
Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter
The prose is "clear" and the scholarship "remarkable", says Martin Wolf in the FT. Tooze blames an "irresponsible and poorly regulated financial sector" for the crisis, but it wasn't just the fault of American banks "European banks had built up huge dollar liabilities and assets, with nearly all of those liabilities consisting of short-term market borrowing".
"Those like me who have read or written it before might find that there is more narrative than analysis, and that at times that detail can be a little wearying," says David Smith in The Times. And Tooze has "an unnecessarily jaundiced view" of "the period of economic stability and low inflation in the years leading up to the crisis".
Still, the book is clearly "well researched" and Tooze "explains things well, without getting bogged down in technical complexities". All in all, it is "a useful addition to the growing library of crisis literature".
-
High earners face £15k income hit by 2029 following Autumn BudgetRachel Reeves’s Autumn Budget means high earners – or HENRYs – are now looking at an income hit running into the thousands. Can you avoid it?
-
Millions underestimate how many paydays are left until retirement - why you should be counting your payslipsKeeping track of how long you will be earning a salary for can help work out how much you need to put into a workplace pension
