Financial Whirlpools

Preface

The turmoil that began to build in 2006, hit United States in 2008, and spread to other nations immediately thereafter embodies one of the most challenging economic puzzles in recent history. Early in 2008 after international insurance giant AIG posted billions in loss, the U.S. economy unraveled. In the months that followed, reading the newspaper was like watching a gloomy soap opera; each week brought incredible tales of accounting fraud, losses, bankruptcies, and economic decline. In California, my home state, real estate was faring worse than in many other places. People were worried. As events unfolded, I became intrigued by the complexity and far-reaching effects of what would soon be called the 2008 economic crisis and the 2009 ...