Chain of Blame: How Wall Street Caused the Mortgage and Credit Crisis | 
 enlarge | Authors: Paul Muolo, Mathew Padilla
Publisher: Wiley
Category: Book
List Price: $27.95
Buy New: $13.97
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Rating:  20 reviews
Sales Rank: 1135
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 338
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.9
Dimensions (in): 9.1 x 6.2 x 1.2
ISBN: 0470292776
Dewey Decimal Number: 332.720973
EAN: 9780470292778
ASIN: 0470292776
Publication Date: July 8, 2008
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Condition: Brand New. 100% money back guarantee. All books shipped from Strand Bookstore, New York City, USA.
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
In the summer of 2007, the subprime empire that Wall Street had built all came crashing down. On average, fifty lenders a month were going bust-and the people responsible for the crisis included not just unregulated loan brokers andcon artists, but also investment bankers and home loan institutions traditionally perceived as completely trustworthy. Chain of Blame chronicles this incredible disaster, with a specific focus on the players who participated in such a fundamentally flawed fiasco. Authors Paul Muolo and Mathew Padilla, well-regarded journalists for National Mortgage News and the Orange County Register respectively, reveal the truth behind how this crisis occurred, what individuals and institutions-from lenders and brokers to some of the biggest investment banks in the world-were doing during this critical time, and who is ultimately responsible for what happened.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 15 more reviews...
 AWOL October 1, 2008
1 out of 3 found this review helpful
This is a good book for an overview of the mortgage banking operation. However, any such book that fails to mention Rangel, Franks, or Dodd is lacking the substance required for full comprehension.
 Amazing eye-popping look at the mortgage crisis September 15, 2008
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
I hadn't followed the sub prime mortgage crisis as closely as I would have liked, until a close friend recommended this book. A truly fascinating read, and made all the more prevalent with the collapse of two more Wall St. giant banks and the bail-out of Freddie and Fanny. Extremely well-written, with detailed accounts, and easy to understand without being too didactic, this book came as close to a page turner as a non-fiction could be. Kudos to the authors!
 Easy book that tries to answer "how the heck..." September 12, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Good book that reads quickly about a topic that can be very detailed and arcane. In this way, its very valuable because you can actually get through it, and understand historically how the crisis could have happened. I especially liked all the parts about the personalities, and how they were created and helped TO CREATE the mess. I think they may have let the ratings agencies and the regulators off a easy, but I agree with the central premise that the Wall Street folks had a major hand in the mess. And the amazing thing is that this was written BEFORE the Fannie / Freddie mess, or the impending implosion of Lehman. So, it was written early in the meltdown and was both historically accurate and prescient regarding what was coming. Maybe the next printing will take the agencies and the regulators more to task.
B-School Professors Should Use It September 1, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Excellent book and worth reading. Beware that it might make you angry just like the energy scandals did a few years ago. Offers considerable insight and information that would be very useful to business schools for their students. Recommended reading for professors to include in their markets and business ethics courses. Kudos to the authors for a well researched and written book.
Well written story of the mortgage crisis August 25, 2008
19 out of 21 found this review helpful
Do your eyes glaze over when commentators try to describe the financial products that were at the heart of the recent real estate boom? The mortgage boom? This book described the instruments clearly--and gives the reader a great sense of what was fundamentally wrong with the whole process. The title is "Chain of Blame," but there is plenty of blame to go around.
The book is well written and lucid. Nonspecialists can understand it well. I heard talking heads on TV and radio described tranches, REITs, "liar loans," "warehouse line of credit," and so on. The authors describe these terms--and others--clearly and in such a way that the reader can begin to see what had happened--and why the meltdown in the mortgage world should not be seen as so surprising.
It is also the story of clever businessmen and women, who could develop new tools for investment from subprime loans. Subprime loans, simply, are (Page 325): "A loan originated by a lender that is A- to D in quality. Consumers with the best credit ratings. . .are considered 'A' credit quality." In short, loans are being made to purchasers who carry some to a lot of risk. If they can't keep paying their mortgages, the house of cards can fall down. And that is, in short, what happened (although the story is quite a bit more complex than that).
Among the innovators were pioneers such as Roland Arnall (of Ameriquest and Argent) and Bill Dallas (of Ownit Mortgage Solutions). Then, those who adopted practices of the innovators, such as Angelo Mozilo of Countrywide.
The book makes pretty clear that a number of factors contributed to the mortgage problem. Regulators didn't get involved; Wall Street firms ignored the volatile nature of subprime loans in a desire to realize enormous profits; banks bought into the profitable business.
Anyway, if the reader wants a well written, if not overly deep, analysis of the mortgage crisis, this is not a bad place to start.
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