I have a LLB(in addition to my behavioural economics background) but I still found this book extremely hard to follow. The theme of course could not be missed, what the authors had meticulously researched had to be aired and we are grateful they did this. As citizens, taxpayers and stakeholders, we need to understand how and why the financial meltdown happened and this book certainly does that.
Although authors had accumulated thousands of pages of notes, it seems they did not take the time to organise their thoughts in a coherent way. They constantly jump back and forth in time and each new chapter reads the same as its predecessor. They also inject a lot of their biases as a previous reviewer has mentioned.
The introduction does not lay down the necessary foundation for an average reader to fully comprehend the detail that is to follow. The authors should have presented a clear roadmap as to how they were going to substantiate their position, and should have expanded on some of the underlying financial concepts that were to play a crucial role in the flow of events. These could include, for example: what is meant by a bubble? What are the prime and subprime mortgage markets? What is a government sponsored entity - how is it created, who actually owns it, and who is accountable for it? What are collaterised debt obligations and mortgage backed securities? What was a financial institution actually doing when it was "betting against their clients"?
Another frustrating element in the book is the authors' propensity for sprinkling quantitative data throughout the narrative, while not presenting a single chart or table. Adding to the frustration is that comparative data were given over different time ranges and in different units, which forces the reader to sift and re-sift what he is reading, and this detracts from fully grasping the point the authors are trying to make. I guess my brain is wired for more order and consistency and not for this flowery journalistic style. But overall, it's worth reading, even if we don't grasp every page.
