How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #7
His job was to be a CDO "expert," but he actually didn't spend a lot of time worrying about what was in CDOs. His goal, he explained, was to maximize the dollars in his care. (6.13)
A typical financial services company is less concerned with the amount of money in their care than the actual return produced on that investment. After all, what's the value of a $5 billion fund if it's losing money constantly? Unfortunately, the system is currently organized in a way that actually encourages bond traders to be greedy.
Quote #8
The subprime mortgage industry [...] had somehow become the most powerful engine of profits and employment on Wall Street—and it made no economic sense (6.33)
Just a few years ago, the subprime mortgage industry was mere peanuts—now, it's a monster. At this point, Eisman knows that the monster is going to explode sooner or later, but he also knows that the banks will eke out as much profit as possible before it's too late. You know what kind of behavior that is? The. Worst.
Quote #9
One of the reasons Wall Street had cooked up this new industry called structured finance was that its old-fashioned business was every day less profitable. (7.23)
This is the ugly truth at the core of The Big Short: Wall Street exploits the subprime market simply because it's a cash cow. It's as straightforward as that. They don't enter the market to make their investors money or to give the working class the opportunity to own homes—they do it rake it in the dough.