Brian Staples Business Communications February 12, 2014
Book Analysis – The Big Short by Michael Lewis
In the Big Short, Michael Lewis (2010) presents the inner workings of the 2000’s
financial industry of subprime mortgages and the exotic financial products based around
mortgages. Lewis tells the real stories of key people in the mortgage-based securities
industry in an engaging, relatable manner. I agree with Lewis’s position that mortgage–
based securities markets were poorly understood and poorly regulated.
Lewis discusses those who knew the financial derivatives products being
packaged and traded might be too good to be true, all the while many of them made
profits as the markets turned downward. Lewis also discusses those who lost the most
on the risky, unregulated bets being made on collateralized debt obligations made up of
mortgage backed securities and credit default swaps insuring the collateralized debt
