The Economic crisis of 2008 in Michael Lewis’ the big short
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Date
2017
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
university of Oum- El- Bouaghi
Abstract
The following research is an analytical study of Michael Lewis' bestselling non-fiction
book The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine (2010). More precisely, it attempts
to examine the diverse facets of the economic crisis of 2008 and the phenomena allied
to it. The study centers on the ideas of Greed, Fraud, and Usury, which have always
been part of the American economic system. Dwelling on the insights of cultural
materialism namely; structure, superstructure, hegemony and subversion, this research
aims to argue that the Lewis' book is a form of criticism to the mortgage bond market
and the American financial system in general. Our thesis is based on a number of
assumptions. The first assumption is that the book recounts the real story of Wall Street,
which helps the reader to understand the root causes of the recession of 2008. The
second assumption is that the characters' experiences in Wall Street allowed them to
observe the corruption of the system, which entails fraudulent acts driven by the banks'
greed. In short, the purpose of this study is to provide a deep understanding of the
workings of the American financial system and the real reasons behind its fall and also
to allow for a new different perspective of viewing the Crisis of 2008.
Description
Keywords
Economic crisis, Cultural materialism