Subprime Cities: The Political Economy of Mortgage Markets

“Overall, the book is a must-have for not only those interested in the economics, geography, and politics of the subprime crisis or mortgage markets, but also those more broadly interested in economic geography more broadly, especially as it concerns finance. The book will be extremely useful for advanced courses in economic geography, housing policy, and related topics. It should be widely cited in the ongoing debate over the subprime crisis as well as in discussions of mortgage and housing markets more generally.”  (International Journal of Housing Policy, 2012)

There has, prior to the publication of this book on Subprime Cities, been very little concern for examining and interpreting this sequence of events and explaining the role of urbanization and financialization (along with rent-seeking) in this whole dynamic. What this book does is to begin upon the complex task of exploring and explaining the urban roots of crisis formation in general and of the dynamics of the most recent crisis in particular. We have here an astonishing and revelatory understanding of the urban roots of the fiscal crisis.
—David Harvey, Graduate Center, City University New York

Subprime Cities reveals how the fate of metropolitan areas has long been and continues to be intricately intertwined with the opaque dealings of financial institutions. More importantly, this book exposes deep, fundamental structural barriers that persist and must be challenged before we can bring some rationality to financial service industries in a manner that will lead to more balanced and equitable development of those communities.
— Gregory D. Squires, George Washington University