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chavag's review against another edition
3.0
Boomerang is a collection of five essays, one each on Iceland, Greece, Ireland, Germany and the United States. The author, Michael Lewis, attempts to find a coherent narrative for each country's role in the economic recession. Mostly, he finds a national character to be blamed. The Greek are corrupt, Icelanders are feral, the meticulous Germans have a secret fascination with dirt, and Americans are greedy. It's simplistic but entertaining, and fills the human need for finding order in chaos.
(From here on, it's my thoughts and not a review.)
The last chapter, on the United States, provided really great food for thought. The premise there is that like the Greeks, Americans want everything, without having to pay for it, and without taking into account the price we'll have to pay for it in the future. Public employees want better pay and benefits and pensions, households want houses and cars and health care and vacations, students want education and opportunities -- and all without raising taxes on the middle class, or at all.
What I find interesting is that this is the complaint that both the right and the left throw at each other. The left claim that the right are greedy and motivated only by money. They care only about big business and not at all about the little guy. The right claim that the left are lazy and motivated by getting as much money as possible from the government. They spend their energy figuring out better ways for the government to take care of them instead of innovating and working hard.
At its core, it's the same complaint - you care only about getting what you want, on your terms, preferably right now.
If there's truth to that, then we share a certain kind of soullessness. But it's also true that at the root of both complaints are shared values. We all feel that something is missing. Maybe its patriotism or unity, or maybe it's the caring more about the quantity than the quality of life, maybe it's a delusional grandiosity that's taken hold of us-- the harmful belief that we deserve to have everything, even youth, forever.
Whatever it is that ails us, it isn't partisan. It just expresses itself differently on the right and on the left.
Lewis ends the book (the chapter on the U.S.) with the story of Paige Meyer, a firefighter in the city of Vallejo, CA. Meyer moved to Vallejo from a "cushy job in Sunnyvale, CA" because Vallejo homes are mostly wooden and there are a lot more fires to fight. He loves what he does, both the adrenaline and the saving people.
Meyer was appointed fire chief after the city declared bankruptcy and had to drastically reduce the number of public safety employees. Now the city has the same amount of fires to fight, but with fewer stations and fewer engines, and therefore longer response times, and bigger fires. Meyer will have to figure out a more efficient way to use the resources as his disposal to keep the city safe.
When finally faced with the reality of scarcity, Americans do what they do best -- innovate.
It's an optimistic note to end on and even Lewis hedges against it. His last sentence, "As idiotic as optimism can sometimes seem, it has a weird habit of paying off."
(From here on, it's my thoughts and not a review.)
The last chapter, on the United States, provided really great food for thought. The premise there is that like the Greeks, Americans want everything, without having to pay for it, and without taking into account the price we'll have to pay for it in the future. Public employees want better pay and benefits and pensions, households want houses and cars and health care and vacations, students want education and opportunities -- and all without raising taxes on the middle class, or at all.
What I find interesting is that this is the complaint that both the right and the left throw at each other. The left claim that the right are greedy and motivated only by money. They care only about big business and not at all about the little guy. The right claim that the left are lazy and motivated by getting as much money as possible from the government. They spend their energy figuring out better ways for the government to take care of them instead of innovating and working hard.
At its core, it's the same complaint - you care only about getting what you want, on your terms, preferably right now.
If there's truth to that, then we share a certain kind of soullessness. But it's also true that at the root of both complaints are shared values. We all feel that something is missing. Maybe its patriotism or unity, or maybe it's the caring more about the quantity than the quality of life, maybe it's a delusional grandiosity that's taken hold of us-- the harmful belief that we deserve to have everything, even youth, forever.
Whatever it is that ails us, it isn't partisan. It just expresses itself differently on the right and on the left.
Lewis ends the book (the chapter on the U.S.) with the story of Paige Meyer, a firefighter in the city of Vallejo, CA. Meyer moved to Vallejo from a "cushy job in Sunnyvale, CA" because Vallejo homes are mostly wooden and there are a lot more fires to fight. He loves what he does, both the adrenaline and the saving people.
Meyer was appointed fire chief after the city declared bankruptcy and had to drastically reduce the number of public safety employees. Now the city has the same amount of fires to fight, but with fewer stations and fewer engines, and therefore longer response times, and bigger fires. Meyer will have to figure out a more efficient way to use the resources as his disposal to keep the city safe.
When finally faced with the reality of scarcity, Americans do what they do best -- innovate.
It's an optimistic note to end on and even Lewis hedges against it. His last sentence, "As idiotic as optimism can sometimes seem, it has a weird habit of paying off."
dadof4kids's review against another edition
4.0
I’ve kind of gotten obsessed with Michael Lewis’s books this year, and this one really reflects his personality and style. He combines deep research into complex topics with an irreverent, borderline offensive description of the protagonists of his stories. While his stereotypes of different national personalities will surely raise some eyebrows, it’s fascinating to consider how the greed of the great financial crisis manifested itself differently around the world, including here in the States.
niniane's review against another edition
3.5
Stories from the author interviewing finance experts and politicians in Greece, Ireland, Germany, California in 2011.
It was interesting to hear the personalized stories told by these individuals, but it's always a very biased view. The remarks from the Irish whistleblowers were probably the most interesting. Otherwise, it was just a entertaining telling of someone's PR twist about their hyperoptimistic borrowing.
It was interesting to hear the personalized stories told by these individuals, but it's always a very biased view. The remarks from the Irish whistleblowers were probably the most interesting. Otherwise, it was just a entertaining telling of someone's PR twist about their hyperoptimistic borrowing.
deschatjes's review against another edition
4.0
Hard to believe all that was already 10 years ago. Well written and interesting view on how the last financial crash happened and the hubris surrounding it
mastersal's review against another edition
5.0
Read this in one sitting on a flight and kept laughing. Gentleman next to me was very confused as to why I was laughing at what should, and is, tragic. This is a testament to Mr. Lewis’ writing. I do remember a lot of what he discussed and I recommend this to a lot of people.
5 stars!
5 stars!
joshknape's review against another edition
4.0
This is a great book for anyone who wants to understand what behaviors caused the debt crises in various nations but does not have a background in finance or economics. It's not a very technical book. It studies several countries or other places that were and still are key to the debt crises in Europe and America, and concludes that in these places--Iceland, Greece, Ireland, Germany, and California--the horrible financial decisions that led to unsustainable debt and to recession (except in Germany, which is not loaded with debt but financed excessive spending in other countries with easy credit, and will now probably be on the hook for bailing Europe out). were influenced by flaws peculiar to their national or regional character. It's fascinating, particularly Lewis's analysis of the German national character (which, be warned, is disgusting in some respects).
rickwren's review against another edition
3.0
Sure it was simplistic and even childish to boil down complete economies into sustained book sections and given character, attitudes, and attributes. To make an entire country behave as an individual really does cheat the system. But the measure of a book is how much it makes you think about the topic and how much more you understand it after you've read it then you understood it before. Doesn't provoke conversation? Does it make you research? Do you spend time trying to find out more?
If he would have put everything there was to know about Iceland, Greece, Germany, and the United States financial systems into a single volume it would have been too big to pick up. So Michael Lewis is a commercial writer. So what?
Iceland is a very small country and those people who were in charge were naïve. Their naïveté was exploited by the big bankers from New York and London as they attempted, mostly successfully, to a great and pillage these descendents of the Vikings. Iceland turned it around, and eventually they punished some of the bankers and through the entire system out of the country and are quite well on the road to recovery. The national character is what Michael Lewis presents a and his presentation makes sense.
Greece is a country filled with corruption, incompetence and laziness. Is this true? Michael Lewis made it sound believable as he described both the before and after of the the financial meltdown. The kleptocracy is amazing. Even after everything that happened they have no interest in changing. I especially loved his time in the monastery. That whole story kept me enthralled.
Germany, as a nation to rigid to understand what was changing about the markets, kept thinking that everyone else was going to play by the rules. They kept buying up the debt and didn't see that the debt was going bad because that was what was in the manuals. It's funny to think about and very simplistic to assume that an entire country's culture can be boiled down to simple actions, but it does work as a metaphor for what happened and how Germany was left holding the bag.
The United States, of course in this tale of woe, comes off as the conmen – the swindlers of the world's money. I just wish I had some of it. It's not a flattering portrayal, but it again works for the metaphor.
That's what this book was. It was metaphors that worked to describe what happened in as simple terms as the general public understand.
If he would have put everything there was to know about Iceland, Greece, Germany, and the United States financial systems into a single volume it would have been too big to pick up. So Michael Lewis is a commercial writer. So what?
Iceland is a very small country and those people who were in charge were naïve. Their naïveté was exploited by the big bankers from New York and London as they attempted, mostly successfully, to a great and pillage these descendents of the Vikings. Iceland turned it around, and eventually they punished some of the bankers and through the entire system out of the country and are quite well on the road to recovery. The national character is what Michael Lewis presents a and his presentation makes sense.
Greece is a country filled with corruption, incompetence and laziness. Is this true? Michael Lewis made it sound believable as he described both the before and after of the the financial meltdown. The kleptocracy is amazing. Even after everything that happened they have no interest in changing. I especially loved his time in the monastery. That whole story kept me enthralled.
Germany, as a nation to rigid to understand what was changing about the markets, kept thinking that everyone else was going to play by the rules. They kept buying up the debt and didn't see that the debt was going bad because that was what was in the manuals. It's funny to think about and very simplistic to assume that an entire country's culture can be boiled down to simple actions, but it does work as a metaphor for what happened and how Germany was left holding the bag.
The United States, of course in this tale of woe, comes off as the conmen – the swindlers of the world's money. I just wish I had some of it. It's not a flattering portrayal, but it again works for the metaphor.
That's what this book was. It was metaphors that worked to describe what happened in as simple terms as the general public understand.