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Posts Tagged ‘hedge funds’

Michael Lewis is his usual wry, witty, sardonic, self-deprecating, interesting and insightful self in this collection of articles which he wrote investigating what caused the financial problems in Europe and here in the U.S. He makes you laugh even though you know you should be crying.

The first character we meet is a Texas hedge fund manager who Lewis had edited out of his previous book, “The Big Short” because Lewis thought he was a whack job. Turns out, the guy was right and became very rich. He now collects guns, gold bars, lives in a fortress and is betting that Europe’s governments will fail. He’s hoping that his gun collection and fortress will protect his family and his gold bar collection when the world collapses into anarchy.

The first place we visit on Michael Lewis’ journey is Iceland where the hubris is astonishing. Essentially, a group of people who were adept at fishing decided that they could be good at banking. It was all guys. The women tried to warn them but the men wouldn’t listen. So the Icelanders bought into their own BS at highly inflated prices and then it all collapsed. Iceland’s population is small so the amount of money for which each citizen of Iceland is responsible is enormous
Next stop, Greece where the population feels entitled. Reading Lewis’ observations about the Greeks makes it apparent why they’re in their current economic situation. He recounts a story which I recall hearing about in the news. An angry mob firebombed a bank and several bank employees died as a result including a pregnant young woman. Rather than feeling compassion for the victims, the mob’s response was that it served them right for having the temerity to work rather than staying home and collecting from the government like any good citizen would do.

In Germany, Lewis learns that the citizens of Deutschland are quite scatological. The theory of why they’re this way is interesting. More importantly, we learn that although it’s very important to German society that everyone play by the rules, their bankers didn’t. In fact, though German bankers gave the outward impression that everything was on the up-and-up, they were enablers of those who were creating the financial crisis in Europe and here in America.

Which brings us back home. Lewis defends Meredith Whitney who garnered the ire of Wall Street when she decided to do some research about the financial health of America and discovered that the states were in pretty bad financial shape. The worst offender: California. Lewis introduces us to some inspiring community leaders who are working to cope with a situation created by citizens who demand public services but don’t want to pay for them. He also gets some surprisingly candid answers from former California governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger . The story about Arnold’s decision to run for governor is a classic.

One insight one comes away with after reading “Boomerang: Travels In The New Third World” is.. we’re screwed.