The Mortgage & Credit Crisis
Background & Analysis
An excellent introduction to the subject for non-experts is in this Wikipedia entry.
For experts and professionals, the four most perceptive and outspoken analysts of the crisis have been Nouriel Roubini, Paul Krugman, and Robert Shiller, all economists, and Charles Morris, a writer and former banker.
The best single overview of the crisis, still relevant, is Charles Morris’ book The Trillion Dollar Meltdown, which was published in February 2008 and predicted total losses of $1 trillion. You can purchase the book here. A review from the Economist summarizes the book well. The Economist
Morris’ estimate of $1 trillion in losses was recently confirmed by the IMF’s April 2008 Global Financial Stability Report. An excellent summary of the study is found at The Housing Wire
The full text of the IMF report is at The IMF
Nouriel Roubini tends to be the most pessimistic of the principal analysts, predicting total losses could reach $3 trillion, a number far higher than most believe plausible. He has written extensively on the subject on his economics website and blog, www.rgemonitor.com. Details on Fannie and Freddie can found on James Hamilton’s blog (reprinted at RGEmonitor).
Paul Krugman has written about the mortgage problem repeatedly in his New York Times op-ed column, most recently here. In a March 2008 interview in Fortune, found here, he predicted a drop of 25% in U.S. home prices by the time the crisis bottoms out. This interview is on CNN
