best book yet on the financial crisis
595472
I just picked up "Bull by the Horns" to get a first-hand recounting of the financial crisis and a behind-the-scenes look at the cast of characters involved, and have already found so much more. It's a fast-paced, eye-opening read that relays important lessons about the causes of and responses to the crisis, and combines them with common-sense policy recommendations. Using the same straight-forward, direct style that served her well as the head of the FDIC, Bair in her book takes the reader past the technical jargon of banking and into a forward-looking, easy-to-understand discussion of how each and every one of us is affected by financial policy. Additionally, she sets the record straight on many of the misconceptions about the financial crisis. "Bull by the Horns" is a great, informative read.
1241326
Helen Brown's book in the most important book I've read in years. She predicts all of our current banking woes. What is a hedge fund? Now I know. What are derivatives? Now I know. Why are Fannie May and Freddie Mac almost insolvent? Now I know. Helen predicts that they will both "vaporize." I hope everyone is paying attention. This is one of the most important books out there. If I were I stock investor I'd have known years ago to sell. Had I been able to invest in gold and silver, Helen told me to do so years ago when I read her book. It's all falling apart right before our eyes and if you want to know why, read this book.
2313301
I was really impressed with this book.  It took me awhile to come around to it because it messed with my thinking so much, but since I have come to hold this book in high regard.  This is mostly due to the unorthodox nature of this book compared with other financial books and advice.

This book spells out financial advice that is usually complex and jargon-filled, in an easy to understand, straightforward, tell it like it is fashion.  Robert Kiyosaki does not shy away from saying the tough truths that we all need to face ourselves.

Essentially, this book is about changing your thinking fundamentally about how you look at money.  Instead of purchasing liabilities, people need to be looking at ways to buy/acquire/create assets.  While this book doesn't get into that specifically, it does provide a good starting point for where to look next.

This book is also essentially a sales pitch for the game "Cashflow".  However the game itself is fantastic and I would highly recommend that as well.

In summary, this book will mess with your mind.  But stick with it and let some of the messages in.  I highly recommend this book to anyone and everyone.  5 out of 5 stars.
764622
Peter Schiff has written a number of books-  This might be his best.
He has a great writing style and a consistently correct message.  He has a very good track record of calling no only what economics are coming down the pipe, but how government(s) will react and make things worse.  This book does an amazing job of continuing that.  I'd put this author up against anyone in a debate (written or live).  Peter Schiff has cleared up more liberal thinking fallacies than any economist since Hazlitt, Rothbard, Hayek or Bastiat.  I will continue to buy any book Peter Schiff takes the time to release.  Each book has content that is more valuable than my bachelors degree in business finance.

Not only is this book completely relevant in terms of current economies, the content is timeless.  I'll be buying plenty of these and be handing them out for gifts.  His past writing has made me look smart just because I have told friends and family about Schiff and his economics.
1824248
We finally have the journeywoman Wallstreeter's perspective on the circumstances that brought about the credit crisis of 2007-8, and I reveled in it! I have endured the ignorant rantings of financially illiterate politicians who couldn't tell a derivative from a preservative as they try to explain that their ignorance of the issues had nothing to do with what happened, and that it was all the product of evil corporate interests. Compounding this error have been the tomes written by clueless reporters more interested in articulating a wholly inaccurate and biased narrative with all the depth of a romance novel. Then you have the financial leaders of the time writing dull dramas about the crisis whose purpose was merely to protect their reputations and legacies. Finally, we have a financially knowledgeable person with no political ax to grind, and with a unique vantage point from which to chronicle the most relevant activities that led to the financial calamity and its aftermath.

While Ms. DiMartino Booth was at DLJ, I was right next door at PaineWebber doing Equity Research. Our paths never crossed, but I believe I can vouch for the veracity of her prose as we both had similar vantage points in the late '90's and 2000's. I particularly enjoyed when she was first introduced to CDOs and then went on to track their swift proliferation into every aspect of global finance while being almost unnoticed. Market systems need to be structured correctly in order to function properly, and at the time that this security was growing it was really nobody's job to create market structures that were self correcting. Politicians wanted to increase the rate of homeownership in the country, so they compelled banks to lend to uncreditworthy individuals. Banks had created the perfect security to quickly remove this credit risk from their books. The model-jockeys thought they had everything tied tight, but one of their assumptions was a worse case scenario of a 10% decline in property values. Property values never declined more than that since the Great Depression. Well...

The book illustrates that there have been an abundance of extremely smart, extremely hard-working, and extremely well-intentioned individuals who have been charged with the task of managing the mechanics of global finance. This book basically chronicles the negative consequences wrought by 300 years of industrial evolution compelling the increasing specialization of labor. People have been compelled to become Masters in increasingly narrower fields of expertise. Nobody is really incentivized to observe and advise from a more panoramic perspective. This comes glaringly into view later in the book, when Ms. DiMartino-Booth's colleagues disregard her work because she does not have a Phd in Economics from an Ivy League Institution. However, she was probably the only one in the room that ever sold a derivative security to a client and had to live with its performance. Anything that does not neatly fit into her colleagues' macroeconomic models is not worth contemplating for long.

I think Ms. DiMartino-Booth and I both believe in the wisdom and the humbling power of financial markets. The model-jockeys at the Fed may have to learn that the markets are smarter than they are the hard way, and probably to the detriment of us all.
4706647
This is a great book on the Morgan dynasty, and really relevant when you look at what is happening today.

The book walks through, in great detail, the shift of finance from one that was driven by dominant personalities to the depersonalized institutions today.

Morgan's bank, at one point, more so than even the JPM of today, dominated finance and was run by one man.  On a number of occasions he saved the financial system from collapse--but I think more importantly pointed out why you don't concentrate the power of financial markets in a few people, as the moral hazard is too great.  Later as the book goes on into why investment banks and commercial banks were split--and Morgan actually suffered most, but for the better of us all.  Today, as the investment banks have caused what is arguably the most dramatic collapse in financial history, we see how we did not heed the lessons of the past, and that finance should not be an area that is regulated lightly.  As a Canadian, where finance is much more heavily regulated, it's apparently the costs of a laissez-faire banking system, as there is just too much to be made--and not enough accountability in a completely free financial market system.  Because banks can't fail--large ones at least--they cannot be allowed to do what they want, as they have the taxpayer to bail them out.

Back to the book, I think it's a great balance between the personal lives of the Morgan family (and their influence) with the story of an empire that once again dominates financial markets, just as it's predecessor institutions JP Morgan, Morgan Grenfell, and Morgan Stanley once did.  It's a long book and I really like how the author doesn't just separate the biographical components of the various Morgan's lives from the history of banking, but rather starts off emphasizing the personal aspects of banking by detailing the elder Morgan's lives, and shifting gradually to the depersonalized world of finance that has come to dominate things today.

Overall a great read and someone I'd recommend to anyone who wants to understand how finance is what it is today, and how we continually fail to learn lessons from our past.  Five stars.
18347
Damon begins by laying out all the issues, one by one, that he feels affect our society and that need to be addressed. He ties the health of the dollar tightly with the strength of the current international trade paradigm, one he considers ripe with unsustainable practices and swollen imbalances. His market insight seeps through the pages of the book in his minute by minute predictions of a massive bond tsunami, triggering a global currency crisis that will make the "Great Recession" of 2008 look like a picnic. I was very impressed by the brevity in his explanations. While there is some financial jargon present, the book reads easily enough to reach an audience that may not be attune to the investing idioms of the market trend analyst world. I liked the information, but prefer the more elegant reading material, but I suppose his tone is right on for his market audience. He paints a very clear image of the coming changes that will unfold during the onset of the crisis, allowing readers to place themselves into the scenario, and giving them advice on how best to respond.
1568496
This is a very well written, easy to understand (hey, I did) and well reasoned book on the dangers of the path we are headed down.  Should be mandatory reading for politicians and voters.  Gives a concise history of currency wars of the recent past as well as a compelling account of the one which is ongoing and the likely consequences of it.  I was looking for something that would give the big picture of what was happening, not just in the U.S. but globally, and this book gave me that perspective while still being understandable to someone not in the finance/economics field.  Necessary concepts are well explained.  I can not recommend this book highly enough for someone who is concerned about the direction of the economy but wants a broader perspective than you get from a media sound bite.
1090378
This is a very impressive book! It details how, over the years, money progressed during history from a means of commerce to the ultimate goal, and the financialization of the US from a nation which was centered on producing things to producing debt, camouflaged as things. Plus, all kinds of derivative concoctions, resulting in just moving around forms of money, with financial insiders and middle people collecting fees, bonuses, etc, all the while these concoctions were so difficult to understand that many didn't even try to understand them, just relying on rating agency ratings while the rating agencies were just a marketing tool of the financial industry, bought and paid for - another form of money exchanging hands with no, or little, analysis of risk. So, the whole thing was a financialization of risk using debt. The book does make a good case that insiders in the financial institutions intentionally wanted many mortgages to fail and used another concoction, credit default swaps (an over-leveraged form of insurance). What they didn't count on were the senior level mortgage concoctions failing because no one really anticipated how far home prices could fall.

And, the creators of this mess were bailed out by everyday taxpayers. If you are a fan of Ayn Rand and free-market capitalism, embraced by Milton Friedman and Chicago economists, you probably will be critical of that part of the book, as the author finds much fault with them, including Greenspan, but does also cover that blame extends pretty much everywhere - everyone wanted to prosper. But, it really was a phony prosperity.

The last words in this terrific book, as an epilogue to the financial mess we are still going through...."Extreme Money, the idea of universal wealth and prosperity engineered by financial alchemy, was immensely powerful, impossible to resist. Was it possible to turn back? As Leonardo DiCaprio understands in the film, 'Inception,' 'the hardest virus to kill is an idea.'"
2382080
This book describes in detail how the financial meltdown took place,  very well researched.  This should be a must read.
3312569
David Stockman's superb "tell all" book explains why the US economy is in the Sundown era of its existence.  Unlike a professorial polemic, Mr. Stockman has lived in both worlds that have brought us to this precipice - as Budget Director under President Reagan and as a hedge fund manager - he brings an eyewitness account that reveals how our nation's wealth has become bankrupt by the twin forces of government and crony capitalism particularly those forces emanating from Wall Street.  Not merely a current assessment, he delves into our economic past to trace and identify the roots of these forces that strangle our growth and ultimately our economic future. His harsh assessment and critique  of how the Federal Reserve actions, particularly Greenspan and Bernanke, have fueled the fires of speculative excess by destroying the mechanism that values the credit quality of the borrower- suppressing interest rates to zero for as far as the eye can see.  Further, he details how the use of Greenspan/Bernanke "Put" has sown our demise by preventing the Wall Street speculators from ever being held accountable for their reckless bets.  A difficult and challenging book to read and absorb, in due time it will be recognized as THE guide book to follow in order to understand how we arrived at the great abyss.
3384361
I enjoyed reading this book;  As the Author provides good historical and legislative foundations that provide excellent context for the ensuing play by play timeline of the events leading up to, during, and thru the 'Great Panic' of 2008;  The book provides all the nascient points without getting bogged down in numerical or legal details that could have the reader miss the 'macro' messages.

The book is a great read because it is a story of people (it has drama and points out individual failings, I love that stuff)!  The key events and people who were  (are)  in the leadership positions that recognized and were could do something about the developing liquidity crisis.  Who paniced and why?  How does that panic lead to a liquidity crisis?  Who would that liquidity crisis affect Main Street vs. Wall Street?  Why can't political leadership react?  Who is responsible for 'managing the economy' through these crisis?  (Wessel explains well how the financial markets evolved beyond the regulator's current responsibilities - the 'shadow economy' is not regulated -  which leads to our current and upcoming national discussion on the proper role of the Fed - who should oversee this 'shadow economy'  (critical liquidity money flows that are outside the banking regulations).)

The book is also a biased, but pleasing story of Bernanke's leadership skills  (and subtly compliments his brainpower despite the early stumbles (which are understandable given the numerous, relentless and tireless firefighting his leadership drove to strike deals hours before the markets opened in an effort to prevent a total collapse).  Dale Carnegie would be very proud of Bernanke; Not only was he well tooled with skills when he took the job,  the book also shows how his leadership skills grew very quickly!

Bernanke & Paulson clearly understood that people's (market's) emotions are what keep the markets functioning;  the emotion needed to keep the market functioning is 'confidence';  'What could the Fed  (the Treasury, the FDIC, etc..)  do, announce, etc.  to keep the markets from losing all confidence in each other'?  'How can the stimulate confidence'?  Why is that important?  These questions are answered with simplified scenarios that make the point without getting hung up in the complexities  (but foot noting that it is more complex than the book goes into ;))

What tools does the Fed have to 'stimulate' the markets?  Will the work?  What are some of the dangers they may create in our future?  I couldn't help tying my personal economic timeline to the events of the timeline in the book.  (One recommendation I would make Wessel: Use margins or add 'Dates' to the subtitles to help clarify & support personal pondering.)  The book ends the story near the end of Q2 2009;  Having a dual timeline in my mind (my personal economic events & the events of the Great Panic) I wanted to keep going;  so I read Bernanke's speeches since then [...];  They were easier to read than I thought they would be.  (Did the book make me smarter?)

But my favorite part of the book is that I feel better prepared as our nation begins:
1. the processes of reconfirming Ben Bernanke as the Fed Chair,
2. creating new legislation to address the shortcomings of monitoring and managing the markets,
3. creating new legislation to address the power of the Fed (and most importantly to me (now that I'm smarter for having read the book ;)), someone's ability to respond quickly in a time of crisis - as Bernanke did)

No, wait,  maybe my favorite part of the book is the 'Hollywood (American) Dream' weaved throughout the book: 'An unknown, small town, AMERICAN boy from Dillon, SC grows up to save the world'!  Yeah,  that's it!  The only thing missing in this story is 'the girl'!  Did he get the girl?
2336259
I am a bit prejudiced in that I "liked" Tim Geithner (meaning I thought he was competent and trying to do the right thing) even back in 2008 when most of main street at least thought him to be in the pockets of wall street. One big thing I learned from this book is how smart the Obama team was for picking Geithner for Treasury Secretary during the financial crash. The country was losing about 800,000 jobs a month when Obama took the oath of office in January, 2009.

I am not an economist and the financial markets to me are like a gigantic Thomas' English Muffin - there are so many nooks and crannies, mountains and valleys to the markets that I'm not sure anyone can navigate their way across them with certainty. But, fortunately, such knowledge and experience is not necessary to capture what happened 8 years ago from the perspective of a really smart guy who was right in the middle of it.

If you have any interest in understanding the first crash of the 21st century, and it was an international crisis, and you only read one book about it, this is the one to read. It is clear, sharply written, personable, not self-serving and fair in its assessments of what went wrong, why and who was responsible (hint on the last one: all of us).

You can believe that Geithner, Paulson and perhaps even Bernanke were looking out for their friends on wall street in their actions to stop the crash and avert a full blown economic depression; or, you can believe that the actions taken were taken because without a financial market there would most assuredly be a full blown international main street depression. As Geithner put it, wall street was a collateral beneficiary of the solutions the Government and Fed executed to protect us citizens from economic calamity.

About the only credible prediction that an economist can make is that there will be another bubble and another financial crisis. No one knows what shape it will take. Personally, I think the growing inequality of wealth distribution around the world is a bubble in its own right and not sustainable. Regardless of the nature of the next crisis, there will be one. Geithner does a great job of illuminating the mistakes we made in the last one that we will probably make again. He offers some good ideas on how to mitigate that particular risk. This is a terrific book in every sense of the word. Enjoy.
4595159
"Screwed", by Thom Hartmann is by far the best book I have ever read on why the middle class in this country is declining. I have known that fact for years, as I am in the middle class, and I have been watching as my buying power has eroded and my standard of living declines from what my parents were 30 years ago.

The author presents the economics of the situation so well, that I can honestly say that for the first time I understand the economic issues involved. He quotes liberally from the founding fathers, which shows their intent for the country when it was formed. He also shows that history is repeating itself, and if we are not careful, we will soon have no middle class.

I didn't give the book 5 stars because the author does get political near the end. Until that point, the book was politically neutral. In addition, I didn't like the title, although I do suppose it sells books.

Overall, this book is excellent and should be required reading for every American before the next presidential election.
3690304
Excellent book.  Wolf is a very good writer and the book is easy to read for the non economist. It added a lot to my understanding of the great recession and to my understanding of the problems left to fix to avoid another one. I'm giving it as a Christmas gift to several family members.  In my view it is necessary reading for anyone seeking to understand the mess caused by the 2008 crash.
4210913
This book is a must read if you are concerned about the economic impact of recent monetary events in the United States. It provides an easy to understand explanation of complex monetary events over the course of several decades to the present from the perspective of the Market Monetarist school of thought, the latest evolutionary step of the macroeconomic ideas championed by Milton Friedman. When finished reading this book, you will have a high level understanding of the true origins of inflation, the meaning of the quantity theory of money and its application to the diagnosis of current economic distress, and possible remedies for economic malaise without having been immersed in mounds of techno-speak and academic jargon.

This book dispels common fallacies of the origins of inflation, exposes logical vulnerabilities in traditional monetary policy management tools and processes, and explains the impact of supply shocks on monetary policy by examining monetary history from the 1960s to present, providing facts and figures in order to support the ideas presented. It provides a very compelling case for Market Monetarism as a solution to the severe economic problems of today and as a measure of prevention so that the likelihood of a repeat of the devastating global financial crises that began in 2008 is dramatically reduced.

I highly recommend this book to anyone and everyone regardless of their current level of knowledge of macroeconomics; and I plan on making this book a staple for gift-giving until everyone I know has read it.
1771132
Dr. Sowell is the best writer on economics I have ever encountered! He clarifies complicated problems in a very readable and direct way. This book manages to get to the key issues that caused the housing crises.