This Time Is Different
Eight Centuries of Financial Folly
A reminder that financial crises are not rare anomalies, they're predictable features of human behavior and economic history for the last thousand years.
A History of the United States in Five Crashes
Stock Market Meltdowns That Defined a Nation
A good roadmap for understanding why financial crises keep happening, and the things we fail to learn from them.
The Great Crash 1929
A classic analysis of how financial manias form and their devastating consequences.
Essays on the Great Depression
Written prior to his role as Fed chairman, a collection of Bernanke's academic work on the causes and consequences of the '29 crash, and how aggressive monetary action by central banks can prevent future crashes.
When Genius Failed
The Rise and Fall of Long-Term Capital Management
Lowenstein shows how mathematical brilliance, overconfidence, and excessive leverage nearly toppled the global financial system in 1998.
Origins of the Crash
The Great Bubble and Its Undoing
A penetrating look at how systemic corruption, and not just bad luck, can bring markets and institutions to the brink of collapse.
On the Brink
Inside the Race to Stop the Collapse of the Global Financial System
A first-person account of the 2008 financial crisis from the man who helped steer the U.S. through its most perilous moments. It really makes you appreciate the stress of making those decisions in the moment, without great information.
The Big Short
Inside the Doomsday Machine
Lewis exposes the greed and willful blindness that fueled the subprime mortgage bubble, and is a wonderful storyteller. Worth it even if you've seen the movie.
The Lords of Easy Money
How the Federal Reserve Broke the American Economy
Centered on the internal debates within the Fed, reveals how low interest rates and quantitative easing post-2008 fueled asset bubbles, inequality, and long-term instability.
How Countries Go Broke
The Big Cycle
Shows that economic outcomes are governed by recurring cause-and-effect patterns, not random shocks, and offers a roadmap for recognizing when a country is nearing the brink, and what policymakers can do to pull back.
| # | Title | Subtitle | Author(s) | Year | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | This Time Is Different | Eight Centuries of Financial Folly | Carmen M Reinhart and Kenneth S Rogoff | 2011 | A reminder that financial crises are not rare anomalies, they're predictable features of human behavior and economic history for the last thousand years. |
| 2 | A History of the United States in Five Crashes | Stock Market Meltdowns That Defined a Nation | Scott Nations | 2018 | A good roadmap for understanding why financial crises keep happening, and the things we fail to learn from them. |
| 3 | The Great Crash 1929 | John Kenneth Galbraith | 2009 | A classic analysis of how financial manias form and their devastating consequences. | |
| 4 | Essays on the Great Depression | Ben S Bernanke | 2024 | Written prior to his role as Fed chairman, a collection of Bernanke's academic work on the causes and consequences of the '29 crash, and how aggressive monetary action by central banks can prevent future crashes. | |
| 5 | When Genius Failed | The Rise and Fall of Long-Term Capital Management | Roger Lowenstein | 2001 | Lowenstein shows how mathematical brilliance, overconfidence, and excessive leverage nearly toppled the global financial system in 1998. |
| 6 | Origins of the Crash | The Great Bubble and Its Undoing | Roger Lowenstein | 2004 | A penetrating look at how systemic corruption, and not just bad luck, can bring markets and institutions to the brink of collapse. |
| 7 | On the Brink | Inside the Race to Stop the Collapse of the Global Financial System | Henry M Paulson | 2013 | A first-person account of the 2008 financial crisis from the man who helped steer the U.S. through its most perilous moments. It really makes you appreciate the stress of making those decisions in the moment, without great information. |
| 8 | The Big Short | Inside the Doomsday Machine | Michael Lewis | 2011 | Lewis exposes the greed and willful blindness that fueled the subprime mortgage bubble, and is a wonderful storyteller. Worth it even if you've seen the movie. |
| 9 | The Lords of Easy Money | How the Federal Reserve Broke the American Economy | Christopher Leonard | 2023 | Centered on the internal debates within the Fed, reveals how low interest rates and quantitative easing post-2008 fueled asset bubbles, inequality, and long-term instability. |
| 10 | How Countries Go Broke | The Big Cycle | Ray Dalio | 2025 | Shows that economic outcomes are governed by recurring cause-and-effect patterns, not random shocks, and offers a roadmap for recognizing when a country is nearing the brink, and what policymakers can do to pull back. |