The investment banking industry basically invented the concept of OPM (other people's money) in the 1980s (okay, I'm sure it existed before that, but the 1980s was when it became a buzzword).
A great read if you're interested in learning more about the history and operating procedures of the sales & trading side of investment banking is Traders, Guns and Money by Satyajit Das. Its sections on credit default swaps and collateralized debt obligations are particularly interesting when you consider that they were written in 2006, pre-crisis (around the same time that Leveraged Sell Out was getting started, in fact).
A great read if you're interested in learning more about the history and operating procedures of the sales & trading side of investment banking is Traders, Guns and Money by Satyajit Das. Its sections on credit default swaps and collateralized debt obligations are particularly interesting when you consider that they were written in 2006, pre-crisis (around the same time that Leveraged Sell Out was getting started, in fact).