Overview
For most people, the reasons for the sudden collapse of our economy still remain obscure. I.O.U. is the story of how we came to experience such a complete financial disaster, starting with the magical proliferation of credit that led to an explosion of lending on the global and local landscapes of banking and finance. Viewing the crisis through the lens of politics, culture, and contemporary history--from the invention and widespread misuse of financial instruments to the culpability of subprime mortgages--Lanchester deftly draws conclusions on the limitations of financial and governmental regulation, capitalism's deepest flaw, and most important, on the plain and simple facts of human nature where cash is concerned. With newly updated, superbly written reportage, Lanchester delivers a shrewd perspective and a digestible, comprehensive analysis that connects the dots for expert and casual reader alike. Part economic primer, part fiscal and historical analysis, I.O.U. is an eye-opener of a book.
Full Product Details
Author: John Lanchester
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Imprint: Simon & Schuster
Dimensions:
Width: 16.60cm
, Height: 1.80cm
, Length: 21.90cm
Weight: 0.254kg
ISBN: 9781439169865
ISBN 10: 1439169861
Pages: 288
Publication Date: 14 September 2010
Audience:
General/trade
,
General
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active
Availability: In Print
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Reviews
[Lanchester] brings his mischievous wit to bear on the Great Credit Crackup in his boisterous primer....His method: to boil complex instruments and linkages down to anecdotes, outlandish images and acerbic asides that strip away those layers of bank jargon. The result is the perfect read for anyone still wondering what went wrong and why. --James Pressley, Bloomberg News
Witty, lucid, solicitous of the average person's difficulty in grasping the conceptual underpinnings of international finance....Lanchester manages to know enough to explain the terrain clearly and yet he never loses his perspective...Lanchester had me in the palm of his hand... --Salon.com
Author Information
John Lanchester is the author of the novels The Debt to Pleasure, Mr. Phillips, and Fragrant Harbor; and a memoir, Family Romance. He is a contributing editor at the London Review of Books and his work has appeared in The New York Times, The New Yorker, The Observer, and The Daily Telegraph, among others. Among several other prizes, including the Whitbread and Hawthornden Awards, Lanchester was awarded the 2008 E.M. Forster Award by the American Academy of Arts and Letters. He lives in London.
