Boomerang

Tempting credit was the tsunami of cheap money that swept through the globe between 2002 and 2008. It seemed to push countries to indulge in behaviors they wouldn't normally want to pursue. For example, Icelanders became more interested in banking than fishing, the Greeks approached their country like a piñata loaded with cash, the Germans remained true to their traditional German goals and ideals, and the Irish tried to disconnect from their roots. Americans were lulled into a comfortable complacency by Michael Lewis's exploration of bubbles outside our country's borders, which was beautifully, cruelly amusing. He turned a ruthless eye on California and Washington, DC, however, we realized that his story was a ruse disguised as comedy and we comprehended the fate that awaited our nation.