Contagion

復活節前後差不多看完此書，一直想講嚇呢本書但唔得閒。

呢本書很詳細介紹美國房地產泡沬一直到金融海嘯的原因。書成於2008年3月Bear Stern 收檔前後。

作者列舉美國過十幾年泡沬經濟的主因，
- 銀行隨便做樓按，中間有D 叫mortgage brokers 的，替借貸人作收入，務求做成貸款合約收 commission，銀行無理由唔知老作但都照借。樓價升，當然皆大歡喜，樓價跌銀行就面對借貸人走路、收D跌哂價嘅樓。有種Loan 叫 Ninja Loan 即借貸人No Income, No Job and no Application 嘅
- 投資銀行將D次級按揭打包做次按證劵及其他衍生工具產品，卒之滾大到一發不可收拾
- 較少人提及的是：政府和國會被各種各樣利益團體遊說 (lobbying) ，這些lobbyist幕後對兩黨作出大捐獻，當選的議員(尤其要經費競選連任者) 無不向損款者放水。作者指出金融業、各大投行也是玩捐獻以換取當政者對金融業放任政策。
- 果幾間大評級機構為爭生意胡亂對金融產品發AAA評級


作者又大力鞭撻摩登經濟社會現象，例如 ：
- Just as Wall Street investment banks got in trouble by utilizing too much leverage, the US government itself utilized increased leverage to live far beyond its means. The US government, as well as its people, during prosperous times, have not been happy with the consumption they could afford, but rather have borrowed vast sums of money; and gone into serious levels of debt to finance purchased and consumption tha they could not afford in the long run
- GDP growth goes up when companies pollute with dirty air and dirty water, and then have to purchase pollution-control equipments to clean it up. It’s hard to see how the average citizen us any better off than he was before the pollution was created, but this doesn’t prevent the GDP from increasing. Some experts argue that the US’s obsession with status seeking and materialism is not helpful to the quality of life at all yet dramatically increases economic output as measured by GDP……. If greater materialism does not lead to greater happiness the entire concept of GDP maximization has to be reexamined. Some people argue that even defense spending in the trillions of dollars is wasteful as it creates bombs to be exploded against bridges that need replacing and tanks that become obsolete fighting weapons systems that have been sold to old allies who have become new enemies.
- Not only does the GDP measure the wrong things, GDP is overly inflated and much of the growth it shows is phony because it is increasingly measuring things that it has not measured in the past. For example, mothers used to stay at home with their children and do a tremendous amount of work for free, which never showed up in the GDP. Now, the mothers work and their wages show up in GDP, but so does their expenditure for maids, child care, restaurants, fast food, etc.