I was intrigued when I found The Complete Idiot's Guide to The Great Recession by Tom Gorman at my library. Histories on money issues always interest me. So I thought I'd read this one. I figured I knew a lot about The Great Recession. After all, I'd just lived through it. I soon learned how much I didn't know.

This book gives a comprehensive overview of the crisis while avoiding going into complex detail. Everything from the causes of the crisis to the impact on consumers is explored. Some of the topics have been covered in the news and may be boring to re-read. Other topics are given a deeper look or new approach than the news coverage has done. These are the true gems of the book.

The author gives good coverage of how the middle class has been losing ground even before The Great Recession. He details the causes of this backslide along with how the recession has further harmed the middle class. A section on the difference between income and wealth is another excellent part to the book.

Of particular interest to me was the section covering the global effects of the crisis. Living in the United States left me unaware of the effects the recession had on other countries. It is fascinating to see how globally connected the world has become. It is interesting to read how one country can keep to sound finances while many others do not. From the book, I learned how Canada kept to staid financial policies that helped it weather difficult times.

Another aspect covered in the book was how The Great Recession had its roots beginning in the 1970's. It is hard to image how banking changes and government policies twenty to thirty years ago could have contributed to the crisis. However, changes made in the 1970's and 1980's started the financial industry on new paths. At the time, these changes fixed problems such as the Savings and Loan Crisis in the United States; however, they also created unintended consequences. The author did a good job tracking how these changes and consequences contributed to The Great Recession.

I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn a little more about what we went through in The Great Recession. In my opinion, it is wise to learn the causes of the crisis to be better prepared for the future. This book gives a deeper understanding of the causes and consequences of this crisis and its impact on us currently and in the future.

I borrowed this book from my local library to do this review.

This book is available from Amazon.com:

The Complete Idiot's Guide to the Great Recession

May I recommend my ebook, Investing $10K in 2013