Library/Business & Economics/The Lost Bank: The Story of Washington Mutual - The Biggest Bank Failure in American History

Cover of The Lost Bank: The Story of Washington Mutual - The Biggest Bank Failure in American History

The Lost Bank: The Story of Washington Mutual - The Biggest Bank Failure in American History

Kirsten Grind

Grind shows how Washington Mutual's pursuit of growth and risky mortgages turned a conservative thrift into the largest bank failure in American history.

What stuck

  • Institutions usually fail by drifting, not by announcing that they are about to break.
  • Growth can hollow out a business long before the numbers make that obvious.