Lewis' sequel, "Travels in the New Third World", is also good, and especially relevant given the current gyrations in Europe over Greece.

> A few people in the know actually saw it happening...

IMO you didn't need inside information to understand that the American real estate market was a bubble as it was operating in plain sight. Sure if you want to bet against credit default swaps, it helps if you have a hedge fund behind you, but anecdotally I knew a number of people who didn't buy into the property bubble on the way up, but saved their cash and bought a house at a reasonable price after the bubble popped.

The Australian real estate is in a similar bubble, but it's remarkable to me how few people recognize that here.