A Review of 'The Subprime Virus: Reckless Credit, Regulatory Failure, and Next Steps'

Abstract

This piece reviews a book about the home mortgage crisis, The Subprime Virus. It likens the book to a comprehensive series in the New Yorker magazine, covering the subprime lending crisis and its impact on the financial system. It notes the book’s depth, details, and lucid explanations of complex events, combined with meticulous research and citations.

It notes that unlike other works which focus on a single aspect of the financial crisis of 2008, this book examines the entire business of marketing and securitizing home mortgages and analyzes the collapse of federal bank regulation. The review describes similar works published on the crisis, but notes that The Subprime Virus received the book award of the American College of Consumer Financial Services Lawyers because of its unique combination of detail, coverage and style.

Keywords: subprime, credit, lending, financial crisis, home mortgage, regulatory failure