Synopsis "Understanding the Crash"
"If people start recovering from the shocks of the last two years and want to begin to figure out what happened to them, then they could do no better than pick up this fine book."---Doug Henwood, from his forewordUnderstanding the Crash starts with a simple question that still haunts us all: What has happened to the world economy? With the kind of striking precision that only graphic nonfiction can provide, Seth Tobocman, Eric Laursen, and lessica Wehrle explain just how we got into this mess---and how we can get out of it.Looking back across more than a quarter-century, the authors outline the roots of our current economic crisis. They show how the troubles of a working-class community in Cleveland or a newly built suburb of Miami became an international financial crisis, explaining the complex new forms of credit that came into being because of financial deregulation and how they created an economic whirlpool. From there they discuss how, over the same time span, a smaller and smaller group of people came to control a larger and larger percentage of the world's money---a result of rising inequality that, combined with the shortage of affordable housing, a decline in real wages, and our unwavering belief in an "ownership society," impelled poor people into debt. The book concludes with a consideration of a restructured financial system and a look at how ordinary people are taking action to set things right."Understanding the Crash takes a huge step forward in revealing the power of the grophic format. Both history and ideas are clearly and potently expressed here, and in a very engaging fashion. This is an important read."---Sid Jacobson, co-author of The 9/11 Report: A Graphic Adaptation"For all those who want to better understand the forces behind today's troubled economy, yet are tired of struggling through incomprehensible, jargon-filled and often tedious analysis, this compelling and accessible work is for you."---Annie Leonard, author and host, The Story of Stuff"Complex subjects benefit particularly from the graphic approach and Understanding the Crash deals with just such a topic, one that has eluded me however many news item I've encountered or pored over---until now, that is. Thanks to this lucid, dynamically illustrated graphic treatise, I have a far better grasp of the profound condition affecting our country."---Ernie Colon, co-author of the 9/11 Report: A Graphic Adaptation
