What is the “Covid-19 financial crisis of 2020”? If you want to learn about what’s happening in the markets right now but don’t know where to start, start here.
There’s been an 11-year bull market – the longest bull market in US history, and perhaps globally. Has it been driven because of the monetary easing from the last crash? There’s been “free” money from the quantitative easing (printing money) to bolster the region and a drop of interest rates to zero (which happened March 15, 2020 just like in 2008). Governments started printing money to save institutional collapse, allowing for a lot of loans to be made. What do you get? A market that ran, and ran, and ran until the valuation of companies had inflated into a bubble market ready to pop.
Add in an oil war.
Add in Covid-19.
The global economy is shutting down as people are self-isolating and trying to adjust to working from home. Factories shutting down, stores shutting down, shipping halting. Grocery stores empty.
How are the markets responding? The same way they did 11 years ago. How far will the bailouts extend? What will the real estate market do? Is recession coming?
Book list to understand the covid-19 financial crisis of 2020
Read these books to learn more about the financial crisis of 2008 — and see what comparisons you see with March 2020.
The Big Short by Michael Lewis – Understand how bubbles are created and how they burst, and how perversely financial markets are incentivized to take massive risks – leaving the taxpayers to pay the bill. There’s no free lunch.
The Boomerang; Travels in the New Third World by Michael Lewis – Anything that goes up must come down, right? Read about the fascinating stories of Iceland and Greece; their mirage from financial manipulation.
Flash Boys by Michael Lewis – to understand what quantitative trading is. How are quant traders able to skim off money from others quickly?
Quiet: the Power of Introverts in a World that Can’t Stop Talking by Susan Cain – Have you ever wondered about the battle of egos between those at the top of the corporate ladder? Where the level-headed decision makers are? To understand where the markets are going, you may want to understand those calling the shots and why they may be making the choices they do.
Essentially written by Otso Fristrom
Want to use children’s books to help teach your children about germs, viruses and health? Listen to Episode 24: Healthy Bodies, Healthy Books with Coleen Graham