Crashed: How a Decade of Financial Crises Changed the World by Adam Tooze

The financial crisis of the late 2000s is often considered one of the most devastating economic events in recent history. Adam Tooze's book, Crashed: How a Decade of Financial Crises Changed the World, looks at not only the events of the crisis, but how it changed the world politically, economically and socially.

Tooze starts off by looking at the roots of the financial crisis. He explains how the decade leading up to the crash saw a massive buildup of leverage in the financial system and how this led to dangerously fragile investment vehicles such as mortgage-backed securities, which ultimately crashed when the subprime housing market went bust. He then looks at the ways in which the crisis spread, not only across the United States but around the world, as countries attempted to bail out their failing banks.

The bulk of Tooze's book, however, looks at the political, economic and social implications of the crisis. He examines the way in which the global financial system has become ever more interconnected, with banks and investors around the world exposed to each other's risk and fortunes. This has created a kind of 'race to the bottom' as countries compete to provide the best environment for financial institutions, often putting the interests of global banks and investors ahead of those of their own citizens. He also looks at the widening gap between the rich and the poor, as income inequality has gone from bad to worse since the crisis.

Tooze also looks at the changes that have occurred in geopolitics since the crisis. He talks about the rise of populism, with politicians capitalizing on the growing mistrust of global financial institutions, and how the crisis has exacerbated existing geopolitical tensions. Finally, he looks at the shift in power from established economies in the West to emerging markets in the East, with China now emerging as one of the world's biggest financial and political powers.

In the end, Tooze's conclusion is that the world has been changed forever by the financial crisis, and that we are living in a "post-crisis" world. He argues that while we may not have the same level of economic inequality or geopolitical tensions that we did before the crisis, it is still important to keep the lessons of the crisis in mind and to avoid taking the system for granted.

Crashed:How a Decade of Financial Crises Changed the World is an eye-opening look at the most devastating economic crisis of recent history and its aftermath. Adam Tooze's book offers an important and timely reminder of how fragile the global economic system can be, and how a crisis can shape the world for years to come.