Record - DRA Web2

Place Hold

Library:	Call Number:	Location:	Status:	Date Due:
Rochester Public Library	332.722 SH621S	Adult Non Fiction, 2nd Floor	Available

Summary :

The subprime mortgage crisis has already wreaked havoc on the lives of millions of people and now it threatens to derail the U.S. economy and economies around the world. In this trenchant book, best-selling economist Robert Shiller reveals the origins of this crisis and puts forward bold measures to solve it. He calls for an aggressive response--a restructuring of the institutional foundations of the financial system that will not only allow people once again to buy and sell homes with confidence, but will create the conditions for greater prosperity in America and throughout the deeply interconnected world economy. Shiller blames the subprime crisis on the irrational exuberance that drove the economy's two most recent bubbles--in stocks in the 1990s and in housing between 2000 and 2007. He shows how these bubbles led to the dangerous overextension of credit now resulting in foreclosures, bankruptcies, and write-offs, as well as a global credit crunch. To restore confidence in the markets, Shiller argues, bailouts are needed in the short run. But he insists that these bailouts must be targeted at low-income victims of subprime deals. In the longer term, the subprime solution will require leaders to revamp the financial framework by deploying an ambitious package of initiatives to inhibit the formation of bubbles and limit risks, including better financial information; simplified legal contracts and regulations; expanded markets for managing risks; home equity insurance policies; income-linked home loans; and new measures to protect consumers against hidden inflationary effects. This powerful book is essential reading for anyone who wants to understand how we got into the subprime mess--and how we can get out. Distributed by Syndetic Solutions, Inc.

Author Biography

Robert J. Shiller is the Stanley B. Resor Professor of Economics at Yale University. Also the author of the award-winning "Macro Markets" as well as "Market Volatility", he lives in New Haven, Connecticut. Distributed by Syndetic Solutions, Inc.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	p. ix
1 Introduction	p. 1
2 Housing in History	p. 29
3 Bubble Trouble	p. 39
4 The Real Estate Myth	p. 69
5 A Bailout by Any Other Name	p. 87
6 The Promise of Financial Democracy	p. 115
7 Epilogue	p. 171
Index	p. 179

Distributed by Syndetic Solutions, Inc.

Choice Reviews

Unlike other recent books dealing with the US and worldwide financial conditions, this book does not go to great lengths describing the problem, seeking out culprits, assigning blame, prescribing punishments, and then concluding with afterthought proposals to fix the situation. In this slim volume, Shiller (economics, Yale Univ.; best-selling author, e.g., Irrational Exuberance, CH, Jul'00, 37-6377; and one of the originators of the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices) not only describes the problem but also places equal emphasis on various proposals to correct it. Rather than viewing the subprime meltdown and credit contraction as a handwringing crisis, he sees it as an opportunity to initiate institutional reforms that will ensure against repeat failures and extend opportunities for home ownership. He divides his proposals into two categories: short and long term. Short-term corrective actions entail bailouts to ameliorate the damage and keep it from spreading--all at a cost to long-suffering taxpayers. Long-term solutions involve fundamental institutional reforms borrowed from lessons learned during the 1930s that make credit available to prospective home buyers, that use information technology, and that establish new financial surveillance mechanisms. An important, timely book. Summing Up: Highly recommended. General readers; upper-division undergraduate through professional audiences. E. L. Whalen formerly, Clarke College Distributed by Syndetic Solutions, Inc.

Enter to grow in wisdom