Product Description

This is a vivid and personal account of 21st century banking excess. "How I Caused the Credit Crunch" traces seven years at the forefront of the credit markets - a tale from the heart of the bewildering banking maelstrom whose catastrophic collapse has plunged the world towards the worst recession since the 1930s. Tetsuya Ishikawa's story reveals how a young Oxford graduate finds himself in command of vast sums of other people's money; how a novice to the mysteries of hedge funds, subprime mortgages and CDOs can fix complex deals for billions of dollars in the exclusive bars, brothels and trading floors of London, New York, Frankfurt and Tokyo, and reap the benefits in a colossal annual bonus and an international luxury lifestyle. Ishikawa's book, which deftly explains the arcane financial instruments now grimly associated with the credit crunch, is both a powerful tale of lost innocence and an expose of the disturbing truth of the collective folly, frailty and greed at the heart of the banking crisis.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1900 in Books
• Published on: 2009-04-02
• Binding: Paperback
• 368 pages

Sathnam Sanghera, The Times
How I Caused the Credit Crunch is worth reading

Creditflux
Sets a high standard for others to follow

About the Author
Tetsuya Ishikawa, Japanese by birth, grew up in London, and attended Eton College before reading Philosophy, Politics and Economics at Oxford University. Throughout his banking career that included Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and ABN AMRO, he structured, syndicated and sold Credit Derivative, CDO and Securitisation (including subprime) products to investors globally. He was made redundant by Morgan Stanley in May 2008. He currently lives in London with his wife and children.

Customer Reviews

Cityboy but Funnier and with Substance
I saw the author speak on a panel with Martin Bell and the Sunday Times Economics Editor at the literary festival in Oxford and decided to pick up a copy because even though I disagreed with him, he is certainly a sharp and knowledgable guy, as you would expect of a former Goldman Sachs banker. And I'm glad I did. I don't usually write reviews but this was such a good book, I thought it warranted it. It's not that it's a masterpiece but I couldn't put it down because it really is one of the best banking books I've ever read. I read Cityboy once but this was funnier, and had the advantage that you really do learn things about the Credit Crunch. His stories may be crass but his writing isn't, which makes them very funny. Also they don't come across as exaggerated which Cityboy often did.

His explanations of things like CDOs and MBS are also very well done and he makes it simple for anyone to understand how they work and why they were created in the first place. The best was his explanation of correlation trading using an example of a six year old girl... and he maps out all the events that happened in a way that makes it easy to understand what role they played in the sequence of events that led to the credit crunch. But he does this without once becoming academic - it's all part of the story so it doesn't get boring anywhere. His final story just had me laughing uncontrollably!

If you want a good read, which is fun, light and easy but informative on the Credit Crunch, this is definitely the one to buy.

Finally, I understand the credit crunch!
For quite a while now, I've been trying to pin down my understanding on what exactly it is I think we should all be learning about the credit crunch. It's not so much about the existence of dodgy mortgages in the States, but more about what does it all mean - for governments, finance industries, bankers, citizens and, last but (hopefully) not least, me. I know what's been going on; I've read Robert Peston's illuminating blog on the BBC website; I've even made my way through Vince Cable's book on the subject ... but knowing isn't the same as understanding. I may have a knowledge of what nifty manoeuvres Barclays did to avoid indebting themselves to the government, but what's my take on it all? With all this knowledge, I did not know how to react to the news that comes forth from the media every day.

And now, at last, having read `How I Caused the Credit Crunch', I do.

The author may be an ex-banker, but we all have to live with our sins, and that does mean he was actually there. He has the first-hand experience of the background and build-up to the turmoil that we all now live with, he wasn't sitting in a removed office, directing events from afar - he was there, trading, creating products, getting up in the early hours to get into the office, staying up late the next night with clients in salubrious bars and `other venues'. And from this platform, he delivers a clear, clever, precise and (although it may not be bothering the Booker judges for literariness) utterly gripping account of the breathless world of banking. It is a work of `faction' and his character, Andrew Dover, is a compelling creation, swinging over the six-year period when it all came to a head in the finance world from youthful innocence to hardened seven-figure-salary banker. Along the way he gives the reader brilliantly simple snapshots of what CDOs, SIVs and other acronyms are (hand-drawn diagrams, neat analogies and, if you're still not sure, a helpful glossary - brilliant!). He allows us to breath in the atmosphere of the trading floor. And as we get to grips with what actually happened, we're also treated to the hedonistic delights of strip clubs, celebrity chefs and the high-pressured, adrenaline-driven, completely riveting world of high finance.

The author himself was made redundant having worked at Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley. And in the book he does not moralise or make excuses - Andrew Dover is forthright in his acceptance of the role he played in the credit crunch. It may be written by an ex-banker, but it is all the better for it - it is the most truthful, honest and frank account of the credit crunch I have read. It is also the most revealing and the one from which I actually learnt the most about the whole situation. Robert Peston move over, this is the Liar's Poker of the 21st century. I now not only know about the credit crunch, I know about it in much more detail and, more importantly, I understand my knowledge. I simply cannot recommend this book highly enough, especially when it's such a thoroughly engrossing read as well!

engaging and honest
Having read many tales from inside the world of finance which purport to reveal much but deliver little I was skeptical that this book would be any different. I was wrong- the 1st person prose and the clever decision the author made to make the book fiction meant that the story was more revealing than I for one had expected. One of those books you can't put down.