Subprime Cities: The Political Economy of Mortgage Markets

摘要

We all think about houses, especially our own, but there are times when we talk about them too, when indeed we cannot stop talking about them. This happens when prices rise rapidly, or fall, and even more when such shifts in the housing market have wider effects. We are living through just such a time. Starting as it did in the USA, the subprime crisis rapidly went viral, slashing prices, bankrupting families, and lenders alike, with wider consequences that governments must confront. This was not the first time. Recent details are unique, but price fluctuations are the norm, and some earlier fluctuations too have precipitated major social dramas. That is why the two books reviewed here deserve wide attention.