This is a plain-English explanation of how we got into the current economic disaster that developed out of the economics and politics of the housing boom and bust. The creative” financing of home mortgages and the even more creative” marketing of financial securities based on American mortgages to countries around the world, are part of the story of how a financial house of cards was built upand then suddenly collapsed. The politics behind all this is another story full of strange twists. No punches are pulled when discussing politicians of either party, the financial dangers they created, or the distractions they created later to escape their own responsibility for what happened when the financial house of cards in the financial markets collapsed. What to do, now that we are in the midst of an economic disaster, is yet another storyone whose ending we do not yet know, but one whose outlines and implications are explored to reveal some surprising and sobering lessons.
托马斯•索维尔
Thomas Sowell
美国自由主义经济学大师，现任斯坦福大学“罗丝与米尔顿•弗里德曼”学会的高级研究员。曾在康奈尔大学、加州大学等学术机构讲授经济学课程，并在政府部门担任经济学顾问。
索维尔的研究广泛，覆盖经济、政治等几乎所有领域，并且总是先于他人，其著作和专栏极具参考性。
他的代表作有《基础经济学》《被掩盖的经济学真相》《美国种族简史》等。其文章和随笔多次发表于《财富》《时代周刊》《纽约时报》《华盛顿邮报》等媒体，以优美典范的文风著称。
索维尔获得过多项荣誉，包括总统人文成就奖、美国人文学科奖、布莱德雷基金奖。