The Great Recession Reading List (expanded)

Paul Krugman's learning material for his class on the Great Recession has been released online, and you can check it out in the link below.

http://www.businessinsider.com/paul-krugmans-recession-reading-list-2013-12?utm_source=Pulse&utm_medium=App&utm_campaign=partner

This got me thinking about what I would include as a professor for this class. I've read a staggering amount of books on the GR (humblebrag alert!), including some of Krugman's own work. The following is a list of books I personally read and recommend for everyone looking to understand what happened, and how the forces of the political arena in Washington fostered an environment where systemic fraud can masquerade as legitimate, albeit risky, business:

1. Austerity by Mark Blyth

2. Bad Samaritans by Ha-Joon Chang

3. Bailout by Neil Barofsky

4. The Betrayal of the American Dream by Donald Barlett & James Steele

5. The Big Short by Michael Lewis

6. Boomerang by Michael Lewis

7. The Bubble and Beyond by Michael Hudson

8. Debtor's Prison by Robert Kuttner

9. EConned by Yves Smith

10. End This Depression Now by Paul Krugman

11. The Great Divergence by Timothy Noah

12. Griftopia by Matt Taibbi

13. The Myth of the Rational Market by Justin Fox

14. Pity the Billionaire by Thomas Frank

15. Plutocrats by Chrystia Freeland

16. Predator Nation by Charles Ferguson

17. The Price of Inequality by Joseph Stiglitz

18. So Rich, So Poor by Peter Edelman

19. The Unwinding by George Packer

20. White House Burning by Simon Johnson & James Kwak

21. Winner-Taker-All Politics by Jacob Hacker & Paul Pierson

There are a few other books, like Free Lunch The Fine Print by David Cay Johnson, not listed here but are essential reads for progressives looking to grasp the larger economic forces at work here.

Would you add any books to this list? Am I a douche for making a blog post about a list of books I read? Sound off in the comment section!