The subprime crisis shook the American economy to its core. How did it
happen? Where was the government? Did anyone see the crisis coming? Will
the new financial reforms avoid a repeat performance?

In this lively new book, Kathleen C. Engel and Patricia A. McCoy answer
these questions as they tell the story behind the subprime crisis. The
authors, experts in the law and the economics of financial regulation and
consumer lending, offer a sharply reasoned, but accessible account of the
actions that produced the greatest economic collapse since the Great
Depression. The Subprime Virus reveals how consumer abuses in a once
obscure corner of the home mortgage market led to the near meltdown of
the world's financial system. The authors also delve into the roles of
federal banking and securities regulators, who knew of lenders' hazardous
mortgages and of Wall Street's addiction to high stakes financing, but did
nothing until the crisis erupted. This is the first book to offer
a comprehensive description of the government's failure to act and to
analyze the financial reform legislation of 2010.

Blending expert analysis, vivid examples, and clear prose, Engel and McCoy
offer an informed portrait of the political and financial failures that
led to the crisis. Equally important, they show how we can draw lessons
from the crisis to inform the building of a new, more stable, prosperous,
and just financial order.

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