Reckless Endangerment: How Outsized Ambition, Greed, and Corruption Led to Economic Armageddon

Gretchen Morgenson, Joshua Rosner

How did a web of powerful people at Fannie Mae, lenders and regulators help bring on the mortgage crisis of two thousand eight?

At a glance

You will see how a government backed mortgage giant used lobbying and campaign money to blunt its own oversight
You will understand how lenders and Wall Street worked with rating agencies to stamp riskier mortgage securities as top grade
You will notice how company leaders treated critics and short sellers with contempt instead of heeding early warnings