Roubini argues that the economic meltdown of 2007-2009 was not a freak event (a "black swan") but instead should have been utterly predictable (a white swan). And the author should know, since back in 2006 he began telling everyone who would listen that the financial sky was going to fall and exactly how it was all going to go down. He presents a brief history of previous financial meltdowns, demonstrating that, to a large extent, once you've seen one, you've seen them all. Particularly enjoyable to read are the ridiculous prognostications from 2006-2007 by those economists and other financial leaders so often treated by the media as authoritative.  Reading this book is like listening to the smartest guy in the room explain financial events of the past few years, and as well as previous financial crises. While we are now being led to believe that the meltdown was a boo-boo that the Fed kissed with bailouts and made better, Roubini sees more problems on the near horizon. I particularly appreciated the author's iconoclastic approach to his field.