How do the main characters' life experiences influence their views of the subprime crisis?

Many of Lewis' characters display overconfidence. This is especially true of those who believe that the subprime mortgage bond market will never go bad--people who tend to work for large firms that have invested in the subprime mortgage bond market and have a vested interest in its continued success. More skeptical characters like Charlie Ledley, Steve Eisman, and Michael Burry are baffled by the overconfidence they encounter at conferences in Las Vegas where they come face to face with these Wall Street types. They realize that such overconfidence is one of the major problems with Wall Street; because so many people have such unshaken confidence in their own abilities and in the power and prestige of their companies, they are unable to recognize when something does go wrong. This overconfidence is partly what leads so many people to overlook the problems with the subprime mortgage bond market and continue on as normal, without addressing them until they explode in 2008.