dja777's review against another edition
5.0
This was a very useful overview of our recent/current financial crisis. I can't say I understand the causes well enough now to explain it to someone else, but I did feel like I understood what the author was saying while I read the book. Plus, I think he deserves that last star just for succeeding in writing a comprehensible, funny book about finance!
winterzeshoek's review against another edition
5.0
Excellent. Lanchester does a really good job explaining economic phenomena in laymen terms.
quietdomino's review against another edition
3.0
I think this is good. But I'm not sure I know enough to know if it is.
thomcat's review against another edition
4.0
I like the original title better - "Whoops! Why Everyone Owes Everyone and No One Can Pay". This book gives a solid international analysis of the breakdown, with relatively simple examples. This perspective was missing from US-based tracts, and was well appreciated. The humour (British, of course) was both welcome and well done. I was unable to track back the original reason I added this to my reading list, but recommend you add it to yours.
goldiefan's review against another edition
4.0
Good book, explained everything I'd want to know in a way I understand, it just wasn't too 'wow' to warrant a 5 star rating. Definitely would recommend though.
bethancy's review against another edition
challenging
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.5
Arguably a bit outdated but a great account of the 2008 financial crisis from a 2010 perspective. Everything is well explained and very informative.
garretkeogh's review against another edition
4.0
A really great guide to what happen in the financial crash and what it means for us all. Both Funny and scary ...and sobering
naddie_reads's review against another edition
4.5
Lanchester's "Whoops!" is a great primer on the sequence of events that brought about The Great Recession in 2007, which was mainly attributed to the housing bubble burst in the US (followed by the UK & EU, and subsequently the rest of the world thereafter).
While the focus is on the economic implosion in the US (& UK and EU peripherally), even if you don’t live in the wild wild West, this issue is undoubtedly one that affects everyone globally since whatever happens in the West does have a huge impact on the rest of the world (💀) , so it pays to know the history so that you’re well-armed in the subject, and that’s where this book proved its merits.
Lanchester succeeded in elucidating why the crash happened in simple economic terms, which is a boon for those of us who may require A Guide for Dummies on what went down before and after the 2007 recession. The author does not pretend to have all the answers to the obvious issue of “where do we go from here”, and even now, more than a decade after the events that unfolded, things aren’t looking much better for the US and the rest of the countries affected by this global recession.
It's enraging to read about how willfully blind these financial dudebros can be about the effects of their risky gambling on the rest of the population. The worst thing is that it seems like there have been no lessons learned taken from the 2007 crisis, as the wider issue persists and the balance between the rich and the poor grows ever wider in the face of the recent pandemic and economic crises.
Still, the author insists that all is not lost, as shown in Canada’s restraints and well-regulated financial system, so we can only hope that future legislators take a page from Canada’s books. Who knows, we might not be completely screwed just yet.
Related read(s): The Body Economic: Eight experiments in economic recovery, from Iceland to Greece
While the focus is on the economic implosion in the US (& UK and EU peripherally), even if you don’t live in the wild wild West, this issue is undoubtedly one that affects everyone globally since whatever happens in the West does have a huge impact on the rest of the world (💀) , so it pays to know the history so that you’re well-armed in the subject, and that’s where this book proved its merits.
Lanchester succeeded in elucidating why the crash happened in simple economic terms, which is a boon for those of us who may require A Guide for Dummies on what went down before and after the 2007 recession. The author does not pretend to have all the answers to the obvious issue of “where do we go from here”, and even now, more than a decade after the events that unfolded, things aren’t looking much better for the US and the rest of the countries affected by this global recession.
It's enraging to read about how willfully blind these financial dudebros can be about the effects of their risky gambling on the rest of the population. The worst thing is that it seems like there have been no lessons learned taken from the 2007 crisis, as the wider issue persists and the balance between the rich and the poor grows ever wider in the face of the recent pandemic and economic crises.
Still, the author insists that all is not lost, as shown in Canada’s restraints and well-regulated financial system, so we can only hope that future legislators take a page from Canada’s books. Who knows, we might not be completely screwed just yet.
Related read(s): The Body Economic: Eight experiments in economic recovery, from Iceland to Greece
simmoril's review against another edition
5.0
I.O.U. is the first audio book I've listened to, and I have to say that this was an awesome first choice. Lanchester's analysis of the current credit crunch is definitely one of the better ones I've come across. He gives down-to-earth explanations for some of the more esoteric financial concepts like CDOs and CDSes, but also provides enough fodder to let the reader explore these and other topics further. I highly recommend this book to anyone wanting to learn more about what happened to the global economy.