The cover of The Big Short

The Big Short

Michael Lewis, 2010

Michael Lewis follows the handful of outsiders who bet against subprime mortgage bonds before 2008, and shows how Wall Street's bond machine turned bad home loans into triple A risk.

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12 parts, about 23 minutes to read.

Why read it

Tells the housing crash through the few outsiders who bet against subprime mortgage bonds while Wall Street kept building them
Makes tranches, credit default swaps and CDOs clear enough that you can see how bad loans were rated safe
Reads like a character driven story, and ends by blaming the incentives that let bankers profit while taxpayers took the losses

Who it is for

Readers who never understood what caused the financial crisis
Investors tempted to follow the crowd or trust ratings
Business students studying incentives and risk inside banks

What the summary covers

Prologue: Poltergeist1 min
A Secret Origin Story2 min
In the Land of the Blind2 min
How Can a Guy Who Can't Speak English Lie?2 min
How to Harvest a Migrant Worker2 min
Accidental Capitalists2 min
Spider Man at The Venetian2 min
The Great Treasure Hunt2 min
The Long Quiet2 min
A Death of Interest2 min
Two Men in a Boat2 min
Epilogue: Everything Is Correlated2 min

Recommended by

Malcolm GladwellAuthor, writing in The New York Times Book Review
One of the best business books of the past two decades.
Graydon CarterEditor of Vanity Fair
It is the work of our greatest financial journalist, at the top of his game. And it's essential reading.
Harry ReidSenate Majority Leader (D Nev.)
Dick DurbinSenate Majority Whip (D Ill.)
Carl LevinSenator (D Mich.)
Byron DorganSenator (D N.D.)

About the author

Michael LewisAmerican author and financial journalist; former Salomon Brothers bond salesman
- Born 15 October 1960 in New Orleans
- MSc in economics 1985
- Bond salesman at Salomon Brothers in London
- Liar's Poker (1989) described his Salomon experience
- Vanity Fair contributing editor 2009 to 2026

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