The cretinism of the authorities and the financial illiteracy of many citizens is not a unique Russian phenomenon; things are no less impressive in Europe. The world famous journalist Michael Lewis investigated the causes of the economic problems of European countries, and what he writes is amazing. Just imagine: Icelandic fishermen suddenly got tired of their ancient fishery and they decided that they were well versed in banking, so they turned the country into a hedge fund that suffered a devastating failure. In Greece, where tax fraud has reached fantastic proportions, monasteries have become the soul of corruption, and the government has virtually no record of spending, the national debt has reached $1.2 trillion. In Ireland, a flood of cheap foreign money created a real estate boom, the economy became like a giant pyramid, and the country went bankrupt. Well, Germany has become the largest creditor of bankrupt countries. Michael Lewis, as always, turns a story about seemingly boring and difficult things to understand into an action-packed novel with exciting scenes and vivid characters.