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10 GOOD READS EXPAND YOUR SKILLS, GAIN INSIGHT, AND GET INSPIRED WITH THESE TOP PICKS The Fateful History of Fannie Mae: New Deal Birth to Mortgage Crisis Fall by James R. Hagerty In 1938 as a part of the New Deal, Franklin Delano Roosevelt created an agency to make home loans more accessible and spur housing development in a flailing economic era. He named the agency Fannie Mae. At the time, the Great Depression and FDR's other New Deal policies were grabbing the nation's attention. Fannie Mae wasn't considered of particular interest by the newspapers and was hardly covered. Between then and the market collapse in 2008, Fannie Mae one of the largest financial institutions in the world. It was owned by private shareholders and managed nearly $1 trillion in debt guaranteed by the government. en, in 2008 when the market soured, the company's capital began to run out in a torrent of foreclosures, leading the U.S. Treasury to step in and take over. James Hagerty uses his experience with writing for the Wall Street Journal, his research into policy, and interviews with executives to tell the story of Fannie Mae from the New Deal to the collapse. The Watchdog That Didn't Bark: The Financial Crisis and the Disappearance of Investigative Journalism by Dean Starkman A critical look at how the coverage in the business press was lacking during the years leading up to the financial collapse in 2008 and today, e Watchdog at Didn't Bark makes a call for investigative reporting of old. Author Dean Starkman uses his more than 20 years' experience as an investigative journalist to claim that dramatic shifts in the business reporting world in the 1990s made investigative reporting less popular than what he calls "access" reporting—reporting that focuses on executive profiles and getting information to investors. is decline of interest in investigating corporate misconduct led to the loss of focus on journalism's role as a watchdog for the public interest. As a result, the public was unaware of the situation that led up to the 2008 collapse. The Big Reset: War on Gold and the Financial Endgame by Willem Middelkoop e American dollar is at the center of the monetary system and has been there since World War II, but with nonstop devaluation, the world will need a new financial anchor before 2020. is is what author Willem Middelkoop claims in his book, e Big Reset: War on Gold and the Financial Endgame. Middelkoop says gold is going to have a large impact on this new financial cornerstone currency. Middelkoop posits that the U.S. is planning a monetary reset to keep it in the driver's seat of the world's finances, but that plan will include large roles from the euro and China's renminbi. Middelkoop is the founder of the Commodity Discovery Fund and claims to be one of the few who predicted the 2008 collapse. "is is a wonderful history and description of gold, and it would be in everyone's interest to understand its conclusion," said Eric Sprott, CEO of Sprott Asset Management, in a review. Keepers of the Castle: Real Estate Executives on Leadership and Management by William J. Ferguson Taking a look into what is America's largest industry, Keepers of the Castle: Real Estate Executives on Leadership and Management examines the traits and leadership attributes needed for executives and board chairs to lead today's real estate companies through times of change. e book was released at the precipice of the downturn in the housing market. Based on more than 150 interviews with real estate executives, the author hopes to show the changes that have been occurring in the industry and explain how those who were successful dealt with the ups and downs and paved a way to recovery. Leaders in the fields of development, management, and real estate financing will find this book of particular interest. Author William J. Ferguson is the CEO and chairman of Ferguson Partners and the co-chairman and co- CEO of FPL Advisory Group.

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