I have neglected to include book reviews over the past few months. I have read, a great deal, but have not posted notes from those readings. Lacking any future certitude, please allow me to review books I read on vacation while in San Diego.
Our first installment covers a look at Wall Street during the 1980's: Michael Lewis' Liar's Poker. Lewis was hired by Salomon Brothers to work in their London brokerage office. The author adequately explains what he did and how he felt about it [more on this further down]. He superbly lays out the dominant, greedy culture of Wall Street during this decade, detailing its roots under Paul Volcker's Federal Reserve watch into rabid bond trading.
There is a lot of technical financial stuff; Lewis makes it accessible, all the while noting that most of the folks who designed the stuff didn't know how it worked either. Neither did the regulators.
The author spends a fair number of pages detailing his own catharsis, going from someone who benefited and supported a system of excess to someone who ultimately rejected it. He witnessed a culture change within the financial system. It ceased to be about the customers and fiduciary trust with their brokers to making profits for the broker houses.
It's a fascinating read. It also serves as a great primer to his financial follow-up The Big Short [a review of which will follow shortly].
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