Crashed by Adam Tooze Summary
Overview of Crashed
Adam Tooze's "Crashed" deciphers how 2008's financial meltdown reshaped our world. Winner of the Lionel Gelber Prize, this monumental analysis connects Wall Street's collapse to Brexit and Trump's rise. What economic tremors are we still feeling today?
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Key takeaways
When the World's Financial System Collapsed in Real Time
September 2008. Lehman Brothers implodes. Markets freeze. Within hours, the panic spreads from Manhattan to Frankfurt to Shanghai. At the United Nations, world leaders scramble to make sense of what's happening. The Philippines president calls it a "terrible tsunami." Argentina's leader points out the bitter irony-after decades of America lecturing the world about fiscal discipline, it's now implementing the biggest government intervention in memory. French President Sarkozy declares the end of American financial dominance. What seemed like a housing bubble in Nevada has somehow threatened to collapse the entire global economy. For years, economists warned about America's mounting trade deficits and dependence on foreign funding, especially from China. The nightmare scenario involved foreign creditors losing faith in the dollar, triggering a painful adjustment. But when catastrophe struck, it came from an unexpected direction-not from Treasury bonds or trade imbalances, but from ordinary mortgages packaged into complex securities that almost no one fully understood. What made 2008 so shocking was how a "humdrum" real estate downturn nearly destroyed the world economy. The transmission mechanism wasn't foreign governments dumping American debt. Instead, European banks had become deeply entangled in America's mortgage machine.
How Wall Street Built a Doomsday Machine
Europe's Fatal Embrace and the Transatlantic Connection
The Day the Money Stopped
The Fed Becomes the World's Central Bank
Europe's Tragedy: From Banking Crisis to Sovereign Debt
The Reckoning: When Democracy Collides with Finance
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From Columbia University alumni built in San Francisco
"Instead of endless scrolling, I just hit play on BeFreed. It saves me so much time."
"I never knew where to start with nonfiction—BeFreed’s book lists turned into podcasts gave me a clear path."
"Perfect balance between learning and entertainment. Finished ‘Thinking, Fast and Slow’ on my commute this week."
"Crazy how much I learned while walking the dog. BeFreed = small habits → big gains."
"Reading used to feel like a chore. Now it’s just part of my lifestyle."
"Feels effortless compared to reading. I’ve finished 6 books this month already."
"BeFreed turned my guilty doomscrolling into something that feels productive and inspiring."
"BeFreed turned my commute into learning time. 20-min podcasts are perfect for finishing books I never had time for."
"BeFreed replaced my podcast queue. Imagine Spotify for books — that’s it. 🙌"
"It is great for me to learn something from the book without reading it."
"The themed book list podcasts help me connect ideas across authors—like a guided audio journey."
"Makes me feel smarter every time before going to work"
"Instead of endless scrolling, I just hit play on BeFreed. It saves me so much time."
"I never knew where to start with nonfiction—BeFreed’s book lists turned into podcasts gave me a clear path."
"Perfect balance between learning and entertainment. Finished ‘Thinking, Fast and Slow’ on my commute this week."
"Crazy how much I learned while walking the dog. BeFreed = small habits → big gains."
"Reading used to feel like a chore. Now it’s just part of my lifestyle."
"Feels effortless compared to reading. I’ve finished 6 books this month already."
"BeFreed turned my guilty doomscrolling into something that feels productive and inspiring."
"BeFreed turned my commute into learning time. 20-min podcasts are perfect for finishing books I never had time for."
"BeFreed replaced my podcast queue. Imagine Spotify for books — that’s it. 🙌"
"It is great for me to learn something from the book without reading it."
"The themed book list podcasts help me connect ideas across authors—like a guided audio journey."
"Makes me feel smarter every time before going to work"
"Instead of endless scrolling, I just hit play on BeFreed. It saves me so much time."
"I never knew where to start with nonfiction—BeFreed’s book lists turned into podcasts gave me a clear path."
"Perfect balance between learning and entertainment. Finished ‘Thinking, Fast and Slow’ on my commute this week."
"Crazy how much I learned while walking the dog. BeFreed = small habits → big gains."
"Reading used to feel like a chore. Now it’s just part of my lifestyle."
"Feels effortless compared to reading. I’ve finished 6 books this month already."
"BeFreed turned my guilty doomscrolling into something that feels productive and inspiring."
"BeFreed turned my commute into learning time. 20-min podcasts are perfect for finishing books I never had time for."
"BeFreed replaced my podcast queue. Imagine Spotify for books — that’s it. 🙌"
"It is great for me to learn something from the book without reading it."
"The themed book list podcasts help me connect ideas across authors—like a guided audio journey."
"Makes me feel smarter every time before going to work"
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