The Big Short
Michael Lewis’ *The Big Short* pulls back the curtain on the 2008 financial crisis, following a ragtag group of misfit investors who saw what Wall Street, regulators, and rating agencies refused to acknowledge: the U.S. subprime mortgage market was a ticking time bomb. From the socially awkward doctor-turned-investor Michael Burry, who first used credit default swaps (CDS) to bet against overvalued mortgage bonds, to the fiery Steve Eisman, who spent years exposing the industry’s systemic fraud, and the small-time Cornwall Capital team that turned a $30 million stake into $800 million, these outsiders navigated a rigged system to profit from the crash. Lewis lays bare the greed, corruption, and collective denial that fueled the bubble—from banks packaging toxic loans into AAA-rated CDOs to rating agencies rubber-stamping garbage assets—while capturing the hollow victory of those who won, even as ordinary Americans bore the brunt of the crisis.