The Big Short
Subprime mortgage chronicle
*The Big Short* is a 2010 book by Michael Lewis, adapted into a 2015 film, about the investors who predicted and profited from the 2008 housing market collapse.
The title refers to their financial position—"shorting" the mortgage bond market by betting it would fail.
The phrase has come to represent seeing through collective delusion to an obvious but ignored truth: He called the AI bubble early—his own big short.
- nonfictionLiterature about real events
- authorCreator of written works
- bestsellerHigh-volume publication
- narrativeAccount of events
characters · reporting · journalism · Wall Street · finance · subprime · research · protagonist
Contracts insuring against debt failure
- CDOPooled debt investment vehicle
- hedge fundPrivate investment partnership
- speculationUnproven theorizing or risky investment
- leverageBorrowed capital for amplified returns
derivatives · tranche · profit · position · rating agencies · S&P · due diligence · contrarian
Unsustainable property price surge
- subprime mortgagesHigh-risk housing debt
- collapseSudden structural failure
- meltdownCatastrophic loss of control
- recessionProlonged economic decline
foreclosure · bailout · Lehman Brothers · AIG · panic · contagion · unemployment · homeowners
- OscarAcademy's golden award
- screenplayFilm's written blueprint
- adaptationFitting to new conditions
- biopicFilm about real life
Steve Carell · Ryan Gosling · Brad Pitt · fourth wall · montage · Margot Robbie · Selena Gomez · explainer
Those not belonging
- misfitsThose who don't belong
- skepticsThose who doubt claims
- investorsThose who commit capital
- analystsThose who dissect data
prediction · vindication · eccentricity · glass eye · drums
Michael Lewis
- nonfictionLiterature about real events
- authorCreator of written works
- bestsellerHigh-volume publication
narrative · characters · reporting · journalism · Wall Street · finance · subprime · research · protagonist · storytelling
credit default swaps
Contracts insuring against debt failure
- CDOPooled debt investment vehicle
- hedge fundPrivate investment partnership
- speculationUnproven theorizing or risky investment
leverage · derivatives · tranche · profit · position · rating agencies · S&P · due diligence · contrarian · risk
housing bubble
Unsustainable property price surge
- subprime mortgagesHigh-risk housing debt
- collapseSudden structural failure
- meltdownCatastrophic loss of control
recession · foreclosure · bailout · Lehman Brothers · AIG · panic · contagion · unemployment · homeowners · default
Christian Bale
- OscarAcademy's golden award
- screenplayFilm's written blueprint
- adaptationFitting to new conditions
Steve Carell · Ryan Gosling · Brad Pitt · biopic · fourth wall · montage · Margot Robbie · Selena Gomez · explainer · narrator
outsiders
Those not belonging
analysts · prediction · vindication · eccentricity · glass eye · drums
- biopicsbiopic, biopics, Lincoln, Gandhi, biographical drama
- Political ThrillersThe Manchurian Candidate, No Way Out, The Pelican Brief, Argo, JFK
- satirelampoon, parody, parody account, political satire, spoof
- Workplace ComedyThe Office, Office Space, 30 Rock, Parks and Rec, Brooklyn Nine-Nine
bigger, biggest, short, shorter, shortest, shortly, shortness, shorten, shortened