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Crashed: How a Decade of Financial Crises Changed the World Audible Audiobook – Unabridged

Adam Tooze (Author, Narrator), Simon Vance (Narrator), Penguin Audio (Publisher)
4.5 out of 5 stars 887 ratings

Winner of the Lionel Gelber Prize

A New York Times Notable Book of 2018

One of The Economist's Books of the Year

A New York Times Critics' Top Book

"An intelligent explanation of the mechanisms that produced the crisis and the response to it... One of the great strengths of Tooze's book is to demonstrate the deeply intertwined nature of the European and American financial systems." (The New York Times Book Review)

From a prizewinning economic historian, an eye-opening reinterpretation of the 2008 economic crisis (and its ten-year aftermath) as a global event that directly led to the shock waves being felt around the world today.

We live in a world where dramatic shifts in the domestic and global economy command the headlines, from rollbacks in US banking regulations to tariffs that may ignite international trade wars. But current events have deep roots, and the key to navigating today’s roiling policies lies in the events that started it all — the 2008 economic crisis and its aftermath. Despite initial attempts to downplay the crisis as a local incident, what happened on Wall Street beginning in 2008 was, in fact, a dramatic caesura of global significance that spiraled around the world, from the financial markets of the UK and Europe to the factories and dockyards of Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America, forcing a rearrangement of global governance.

With a historian’s eye for detail, connection, and consequence, Adam Tooze brings the story right up to today’s negotiations, actions, and threats — a much-needed perspective on a global catastrophe and its long-term consequences.

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  1. Listening Length
    25 hours and 27 minutes
  2. Author
    Adam Tooze
  3. Narrator
    Simon Vance, see all
  4. Audible release date
    August 7, 2018
  5. Language
    English
  6. Publisher
    Penguin Audio
  7. ASIN
    B07FDGTS1N
  8. Version
    Unabridged
  9. Program Type
    Audiobook
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Product details

Listening Length 25 hours and 27 minutes
Author Adam Tooze
Narrator Simon Vance, Adam Tooze
Whispersync for Voice Ready
Audible.com Release Date August 07, 2018
Publisher Penguin Audio
Program Type Audiobook
Version Unabridged
Language English
ASIN B07FDGTS1N
Best Sellers Rank #35,610 in Audible Books & Originals (See Top 100 in Audible Books & Originals)
#11 in Development & Growth Economics (Books)
#53 in Economic History (Audible Books & Originals)
#97 in Economic History (Books)

Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5 stars
887 global ratings

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Customers say

Customers find the book well-written and comprehensive, providing shrewd insights into economic and geopolitical scenarios. They appreciate its global perspective on the political landscape and consider it a spectacular story. However, the content length receives mixed reactions, with one customer describing it as excruciatingly detailed. Moreover, several customers express concerns about the author's obvious bias.

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ReadabilityInformation qualityGlobal perspectivePacingBiasContent length
38 customers mention "Readability"34 positive4 negative

Customers find the book well written and worth the effort to read, with one customer describing it as a very readable deep dive.

"...The British author is a fine writer and definitely appears to master the subject...." Read more

"...A nice read but it could be shorter; my opinion of course!" Read more

"...But the prose is clear and accessible...." Read more

"...Two additional comments: First, Tooze is an excellent writer, and parts of the book move along at a Jack Reacher pace...." Read more

37 customers mention "Information quality"37 positive0 negative

Customers praise the book's information quality, describing it as excellent and comprehensive, with one customer noting it provides an encyclopedic background to better understand economic current action.

"This a very, very informative book about the financial crash of 2008 and its lengthy recovery...." Read more

"...How a Decade of Financial Crises Changed the World is a wonderfully rich enquiry into causes and effects of the Financial Crisis and how the failing..." Read more

"...There is a lot of information to digest, and I found myself having to reread several passages...." Read more

"...He has marshaled what surely must be the most comprehensive and informed account of the 2008 crash and its aftermath...." Read more

5 customers mention "Global perspective"5 positive0 negative

Customers appreciate the global perspective of the book, with one review highlighting its comprehensive coverage of the political landscape and international situation.

"...Tooze handles everything - economics, finance, politics, diplomacy, public policy, housing, discrimination, trading platforms - and does it expertly...." Read more

"...Written by an acknowledged expert, from a refreshingly global, as opposed to Wall Street, perspective, complete with a dramatis personae drawn from..." Read more

"...In fact the international situation is considered well by several aspects. The book begins by the crisis of 2008...." Read more

"...last 10 years and how they changed the financial, economic, and political landscape...." Read more

5 customers mention "Pacing"5 positive0 negative

Customers appreciate the pacing of the book, describing it as a spectacular story, with one customer noting it's a great piece of history.

"Although long, this book is simply a spectacular story that everyone should read...." Read more

"...A fascinating, if sobering, pre-mortem on an ongoing crisis that will not be helped by either BREXIT or Brussels, and is as slippery as mercury,..." Read more

"Lucid narrative when data is involved; second rate op-ed when politics bleed in and obliterate fact-based analysis for long sections...." Read more

"A complicated book, but a great piece of history writing" Read more

7 customers mention "Bias"0 positive7 negative

Customers express dissatisfaction with the book's bias, with multiple reviews noting an overwhelming liberal political perspective that turns them off.

"...However, he is hopeless on domestic politics...." Read more

"...generally, throughout the book there are gratuitous wisecracks about conservatives and Republicans that, in fact or in spirit, apply equally to..." Read more

"...this book is unnecessarily difficult to read and its bias is misleading. It needs to be rewritten by a less self indulgent and less biased author." Read more

"...shame because the premise of the book is good but absurdly tarred by authors political leanings" Read more

5 customers mention "Content length"0 positive5 negative

Customers find the content length of the book overwhelming, with one customer noting it has 616 pages of text, while another describes it as excruciatingly detailed.

"...The book is somewhat dense and daunting and is 616 pages of text...." Read more

"...a bit like trying to drink out a a fire hydrant; the sheer volume of information is daunting. But the prose is clear and accessible...." Read more

"...The analysis at times is like eating sawdust and it is excruciatingly detailed...." Read more

"...; second rate op-ed when politics bleed in and obliterate fact-based analysis for long sections...." Read more

A refreshingly global, as opposed to Wall Street, perspective.
5 out of 5 stars
A refreshingly global, as opposed to Wall Street, perspective.
Amongst the droves of books covering the financial shambles – and scandals – of recent years, most make dour, technical and less than gripping reads. Not so Adam Tooze’s masterwork, Crashed, a monumental, single-volume survey of the lead-up to the 2008 economic meltdown and its continuing repercussions today. Written by an acknowledged expert, from a refreshingly global, as opposed to Wall Street, perspective, complete with a dramatis personae drawn from a vast international canvas, this riveting tome holds the reader from the very first page and never lets up. Written for the layman – colloquially and well – it addresses the labyrinthine twists and turns of contemporary politics and high finance in measured, chronological, tones, leaving readers to draw their own conclusions. A fascinating, if sobering, pre-mortem on an ongoing crisis that will not be helped by either BREXIT or Brussels, and is as slippery as mercury, this makes a gripping counterpart to Michael Lewis’ immortal The Big Short.
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Top reviews from the United States

  • Sotol Observer
    5.0 out of 5 stars Deep Into the Financial Nuts and Bolts
    Reviewed in the United States on July 29, 2023
    Verified Purchase
    This a very, very informative book about the financial crash of 2008 and its lengthy recovery. The British author is a fine writer and definitely appears to master the subject. His background is as an economic historian and his approach to the financial collapse is thru the lens of political economy.

    For a European, he is very charitable towards the failures of the US markets and the responses of the US govt in the crisis. In fact, he is much more critical of the Germans and the British and the EU govts in their involvement in the crisis and their failure to more effectively guide the Eurozone out of the financial crisis.

    The book is somewhat dense and daunting and is 616 pages of text. Definitly not for the faint of heart or those who are not somewhat financially and economically literate. It does not lend itself to speed reading. A glossary and list of abbreviations would have been very helpful--as other commenters have suggested. Abbreviated acronyms of organizations, treaties, agreements,govt agencies, etc. come flying fast and furious. Still, with due and diligent effort on the part of the reader, you can see how very well the author knits his technocratic financial narrative together.

    The negative reviews often seem poorly informed. It's a difficult book to get thru. Some readers appear to dislike the author because he is a Keynesian liberal. I understand that, but they should note that he tends to be very positive about US govt financial leadership leading the world out of the crisis. Some don't like the fact that he thinks Trump is a grifter. Unfortunately, Trump is, irrefutably, a grifter and a con man.

    The only areas where I found myself disagreeing with the author were on the issues of immigration and protectionism. The Eurozone and the US cannot support unrestricted immigration. There are too many millions in the world of 8 billion people who would kick down the gateways of either entitity to gain entry. Unrestricted immigration is an existential threat to all the Western countries involved. Sober assessment of reality is something other than "racist". "Realistic" is a far more accurate term.

    The author is a classic liberal and against national "protectionism". However, this is 2023. The book was written in 2017. Much water has passed under the bridge since then. Countries are political entities with borders. Too often--as the writer points out--economic and financial advisors forget the "political" part of "political economy". Trump's legions are there to remind them. At least they are good for something. Protecting your economy from essential foreign supply chain failures and from hostile foreign competitors is just good governance. And insuring that others share in general prosperity besides coastal elites is another part of good governance. "Flyover Country" is every bit as important as the two coasts. Probably more so. Never forget the "political" part of "political economy".
    6 people found this helpful
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  • wsmrer
    5.0 out of 5 stars 2008 Neoliberalism crashes the state rushes back-- just in time
    Reviewed in the United States on August 11, 2018
    Verified Purchase
    “Whereas since the 1970s the incessant mantra of the spokespeople of the financial industry had been free markets and light touch regulation, what they were now demanding was the mobilization of all of the resources of the state to save society’s financial infrastructure from a threat of systemic implosion, a threat they likened to a military emergency.” (Loc. 3172-3174)

    Adam Tooze takes the well know Financial Crisis of 2007-08 through its full history of international ramifications and brings it up to the present with the question of whether the large organizations, structures and processes on the one hand; decision, debate, argument and action on the other that managed to fall into place in that crisis period in this and many other countries will develop if needed again. “The political in “political economy” demands to be taken seriously.” (Loc. 11694). That he does.

    Tooze is an Economic Historian and Crashed: How a Decade of Financial Crises Changed the World is a wonderfully rich enquiry into causes and effects of the Financial Crisis and how the failing of poorly managed greed motivated practices of a few financial institutions, and their subprime mortgagees, tumbled economies in the developed and developing world, causing events that matched the Great Depression’s dislocation and could have matched its duration, springing from world wide money markets “interlocking matrix” of corporate balance sheets— bank to bank.”

    A warning he is not kind to existing political beings, the Republican Party in particular “…to judge by the record of the last ten years, it is incapable of legislating or cooperating effectively in government.” (Loc.11704)
    His criticism is, in fairness, based on technical management grounds, and he does find fault as well with the inner core of the Obama advisors and their primary concerns for the financial sectors well being, rather than nationwide happenings where homes and incomes disappeared.

    This reviewer’s favorite (not mentioned by Tooze) is the early 2009 comment of Larry Sumners when Christina D. Romer, the chairwoman of President Obama’s Council of Economic Advisers and leading authority on the Great Depression saw a need for $1.8 trillion stimulus package, “What have you been smoking?”
    Sumners, Geithner, and Orszag, who favored transferring $787 billion to the banks to offset possible bank failures and such -- became policy. Tooze mentions that by 2012 Sumners was concerned by the slowness of the U.S. economy’s recovery taking, as it did, 8 years to reach 2008 levels of employment.*

    Can an Economic History be an exciting read? Tooze gives us over 700 pages of just that, but much will be familiar as reported news and may be skimmed, and some of the Fed’s expanded international roles very dense in content. His strength is the knowledge of what could have happened, had solutions not been found, and how agreements were reached out of public sight.
    “… the world economy is not run by medium-sized … entrepreneurs but by a few thousand massive corporations, with interlocking shareholdings controlled by a tiny group of asset managers. (Loc.418-419).
    Add wily politicians and hard driven bankers EU Ukraine and China you have an adventure.

    Corporate control is not new -- rich descriptions of its inner connections are.
    Adam Tooze does this well a reference work for years to come.
    5 stars
    *For an in depth critique of that period see: A Crisis Wasted: Barack Obama’s Defining Decisions by
    Reed Hundt
    96 people found this helpful
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  • Stefanie UWS
    4.0 out of 5 stars It's good financial history
    Reviewed in the United States on December 28, 2018
    Verified Purchase
    especially how the EURO members' values slow down negotiations. I hardly came upon the fluidness in their story line post 2008 in this book, like I do the USAs through media. The FED is king in the USA in both knowledge and strategy (Powell Doctrine). A nice read but it could be shorter; my opinion of course!
    One person found this helpful
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  • Nancy York
    5.0 out of 5 stars Crashed: How a Decade of Financial Crises Changed the World
    Reviewed in the United States on February 15, 2025
    Verified Purchase
    Author goes into minute detail about the financial crisis in the U.S. and European Union in the early 2000s.
    There is a lot of information to digest, and I found myself having to reread several passages. I don't think most people realize how much the two systems are intertwined.
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Top reviews from other countries

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  • faschue
    5.0 out of 5 stars Tiefes Verständnis, sehr viele Details
    Reviewed in Germany on July 21, 2020
    Verified Purchase
    Anspruchsvolles Buch, gehobene Sprache mit vielen Fachtermini. Beginnend in den 1970ern beschreibt der Historiker Adam Tooze die Entwicklung der Finanzinstrumente "Financial Engineering", deren Unübersichtlichkeit 2008 der Welt zum Verhängnis wurde. Ein dutzend Finanzmathematiker, Hochleistungsknotenpunkte, Finanzmetropolen wie London, New York, Frankfurt, hat es nicht nur plötzlich erwischt, sondern die Auswirkungen traten viel später 2012 in Erscheinung. Auf die Weltfinanzkrise folgte die Eurokrise, der Sturz des Rubels in Russland, Instabilitäten in China. Die Krise ist sozusagen Teil des aktuellen Finanzsystems und damit mitten im Endstadium der Globalisierung angekommen. Ständige Nachbesserungen, Regulierungsversuche einzelner Staaten, fehlender Staatenverbund in Europa sind Folge oder Ursache? Der Essay ist von vorn bis hinten spannend. Er bietet ein anders Bild als die europäischen Medien damals zeichneten. Die Europäer haben eben ganz vorne mitgezockt, gigantisch aufgeblähten Banken noch die Bedingungen geboten um mitzumischen. Trotz der unfassbaren Detaildichte schafft es Tooze einen historischen Zusammenhang bis Ende 2017 zu schaffen und die Abläufe der Krisen zu schildern. Je nach Wille des Lesers ist somit ein Erlangen von tiefem Verständnis möglich wenn nicht gar obligatorisch will man das Buch nicht unverstanden nach kurzer Einsicht wieder weglegen.
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  • Frieman
    5.0 out of 5 stars Buen Libro
    Reviewed in Mexico on February 5, 2020
    Verified Purchase
    Muy buen libro.
    Lo recomiendo.
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  • Gopi Karunakaran
    5.0 out of 5 stars Must Read!
    Reviewed in India on May 22, 2019
    Verified Purchase
    Great book. Must read for people interested in the Financial Crisis of 2008. Offers a different perspective.
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  • recluse
    5.0 out of 5 stars ドイツのordnung lberalismとは？
    Reviewed in Japan on July 29, 2019
    Verified Purchase
    Adam Toozeの新刊。といっても出版は約一年前、paperback版を待っていた。Adam Toozeは今人気の歴史学者。ただ彼のアプローチはいわゆるInternational History、俗な言葉を使えば、国際関係史、それも各国の政治だけではなく経済もその射程におりこんだ重厚なストーリーを展開する書き手。今回はサブタイトルに示されているように、金融に正面から取り組んだ作品だ。前作のDelugeは結論が明確でなく、失敗作と思える作品だったが、本作では彼一流のわかりにくい英語の使い方もだいぶ抑制されており、必読ともいうべき作品に仕上がっている。
    本書の狙いは、2007年に発生した金融危機がその後の十年の間にどのように世界を変えたのかを探ることにある。彼はもともとは金融を専門とする学者ではないのだが、金融というtechnocraticな題材のディテールを見事に咀嚼し、金融を専門とするスペシャリストが読んでも十分満足の行く仕上がりとなっている。金融という専門領域は、著者の国際関係に関する見解の下でその政治性が抽出、整理されることにより、この十年間にどのように国際秩序の構造が変化したかについてより深い理解が得られるような仕上がりになっている。もはや金融は金融というサブシステムに閉じ込められるのではなく、世界政治の構造の決定要因として機能しているわけで、政治と金融が国際関係という枠組みの中で整理されることにより、21世紀の新しい秩序構築のダイナミクスがわかりやすく提示される。
    2007年直前までの政策当事者の関心は表面の数字の分析のみを見ており、米国の財政赤字とUS Treasuryの海外（特に中国）依存が示唆するドル危機だったのだが、リーマン危機が明らかにしたのは、米ドルに決定的に依存した国際金融秩序の政治性だった。株主資本主義の影響下で不用意に極端にまでleverageを追求した欧州銀行は、結果として米ドル短期金融市場に依拠したいびつな調達構造を抱え込むことになる。そのいびつな調達構造は、究極のところで自前の与信分析能力が欠落したアメリカのhyper sensitiveな投資家(Money Market Funds)に自分の急所を握らせるような行為であり、repo市場の機能不全を引き起こした証券化市場の崩壊とユーロ危機により、もろくもその砂上の楼閣は崩れ去ったというわけだ。
    そもそも米国の当事者であるFedまでもが、これに気が付かずに、リーマンを破綻させてしまった。もっともこれが世界の崩壊につながらなかったのは、ひとえにUS Fedによる新種の米ドル供給プログラムの整備と各国とのスワップ協定のおかげ。つまり国際金融秩序のgovernanceなるものは、そのjargonを脱色してしまうと、米ドルを頂点とする階層的な構造だったというわけだ。崩壊した巨大な短期金融市場の受け皿はいうまでもなく米ドルのTreasury marketしかない。財政赤字の海外依存なるものの危険性の「まやかし」と米ドル危機の論拠の薄っぺらさが明らかになったというわけだ。ここはModern Monetary Theoryの考え方とも一部かぶってくる部分だ。US Treasuryを売却してどこにお金をパークするのか？そしてUSDの外為市場での売却なんて可能なのか、という国際金融の難問なのだ。著者の叙述はMMTまで議論は進められないが、この国際金融秩序の政治性を見事に描いている。
    次に著者が分析の焦点を向けるのがユーロだ。ここで明らかにされるのは、ユーロというprojectの抱えた本質的な矛盾とそこに向かい合うユーロの政策担当者の情けないまでの政治的な硬直性と知的破算なのだ。共通の財政並びに銀行規制の枠組みに欠落するユーロの下で露呈されたのは、またしても、欧州銀行のあわれなまでのリスク管理能力の欠如の下でのPIGSへの巨額の与信なのだ。「Extend and Pretend」という究極のforbearance policy（先延ばし政策）でinsolventに陥った欧州銀行をウルトラCで救い出したのは、ユーロという美名のもとで、自国の庭をきれいにしたいという究極の政治リアリズムだ。もっともこの政治リアリズムは、ユーロというシステム全体での整合性の確保という政治的決断にまでは到達できず、グロテスクなまでのドイツのordo-liberalismに首根っこを押さえられている。このBundesbankの背後にあるordo-liberalism はその背景と誕生についてはもっと深い分析が必要だろうが、このドイツ内政上の闇がもたらす影響力についてはそれなりのスペースが割かれている。しかしこのリアリズムは腐臭を漂わせている。一方ではDominique Strauss KahnやChristine Lagardeというトロイの木馬を通じてIMFを無理やりに欺瞞のGreek bail-out schemeへ引き込み、そしてnaiveを装った中での旧東欧並びにウクライナへのユーロプロジェクトの延長という無責任な冒険主義を生み出し、人権侵害には目をつむりながら「蜃気楼の」商業利益につられての対中接近というわけだ。
    この混乱から最終的に生み出されたのが、brexitそしてTrumpの大統領当選というわけだ。民主政治と資本主義のtechnocraticな統治の間の矛盾は結果として巨大な不平等の拡大再生産を生み出しており、これに既存の政党システム（米国の共和党の知的破算やドイツのSPD/CDUなどの長期的な党勢衰退）はすでに対応能力を喪失しており、そこにこれらの「意外」ともいうべき政治的な選択が生じるというわけだ。最後は著者の悪い癖だろうか、唐突に1914年と現在の比較というモノローグに陥っており、どうもわかりにくい。また本書では中国という存在が一つの重要なテーマであったが、さすがに著者でも中国の話題を縦横無尽に料理するまではいかなかった。さて日本。悲しいかな、本書では米国の勢力圏の従属的な駒としての言及しかないのだ。
    ところでナチの経済政策を扱った著者の処女作「The Wages of Destruction」が翻訳で近日中に出版されるようだが、こちらの方の翻訳の方が重要性が高いと思われるのだが。
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  • bluevapo
    5.0 out of 5 stars A classic.
    Reviewed in Australia on May 7, 2023
    Verified Purchase
    This book investigates the sub-prime crisis and its long aftermath. It assumes that the reader knows what happened on Wall Street as a consequence of the failure of Lehmann Brothers, and the freezing of credit that followed. The author prefers to deal with the various aftershocks in Europe and elsewhere.
    His long description of the American aftermath is replete with acronyms and with personalities in conflict with one another, personalities who no doubt resonate with American readers. His long description of the failures of the EU, most of them down to Angela Merkel, who was German first and EU an also-ran.
    I have now got to Brexit; and there is still a lot of book still to be read. But make no mistake about it, this book is a keeper.
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