A must read if you'd like to know what the European world and Calif. did around the 08 crash
581705
A must read if you'd like to know what the European world and Calif did during the 08 crash.
Somewhat dry technical, but it had to be, to explain things accurately.
1955469
A great read.......a detailed account of the political and corporate forces that pushed for the deregulation of the banking/financial services industries which ultimately led to the financial meltdown of 2008.  Scheer does a great job of explaining the effects of deregulation starting in the Reagan years that continued through the Clinton years,  culminated with the passage of the infamous Gramm-Leach-Bliley act that eliminated the New Deal protections that had kept the banking industry in check since the Depression.  Gramm-Leach-Bliley opened the doors for the creation of industry giants such as Citigroup - one of the "too big to fail" corporations that ultimately were at the heart of the financial crisis.

Scheer also explains in great detail the cozy relationship between Washington insiders like Clinton treasury secretarys Robert Rubin and Larry Summers with the banking industry.  After being one of the major proponents of bank deregulation during his tenure at Treasury,  upon leaving the department Rubin immediately took a $15 million per year job at Citigroup - the megacompany that was made possible by his efforts to gut the industry of regulatory restrictions.

It's all in this book, all the players that had a hand in the crisis - from Reagan, to Alan Greenspan,  to Rubin and Summers,  Phil and Wendy Gramm, Clinton, Hank Paulson, to Citigroup,  Goldman Sachs,  Lehman Brothers and AIG.  All the greed and insider dealings are detailed that led to the crisis and left American taxpayers holding the bag.  An absolute must read for anyone that wants to understand what truly happened.
3853503
This book has become a must-read for people I know in investments, so I decided to read it. And I thought it was great.
Bookstaber ran Morgan Stanley's portfolio insurance, the market "innovation" that ushered in the Crash of '87, oversaw risk at Salomon when "Salomon North" (aka LTCM) failed, and up until recently ran a quantitative hedge fund. It looks like he's seen it all and has been in the middle of most of it.  He has taken that experience to create an argument for why we see the sorts of market crises that we are embroiled in now. And what to do about it.
To top it off, it is readable by a non-professional and entertaining with a peppering of personal experiences.
4222150
Enlightening read on the financial collapse. The why and how it happened and how the government reacted. Makes you questions a number of things about the state of the US financial system.
4034389
I found 'The European Dream' to be an amazing read, full of factual information to back up the authors sometimes controversial ideas. There's a lot to be said for the European way of addressing some of the worlds ills, and Mr. Rifkin makes the point that although the EU doesn't get it 100% right, there is plenty to say that the member nations are at least rowing the boat in the right direction.

Over the last 4-5 years, I've found myself questioning whether or not living in the US (I was born and raised in New York and have never lived outside of the Northeast) for the long-term was the best decision for my wife and I. Anyplace seems like a viable option and I thought this book would be a good indicator of whether or not the flirtation with someday moving 'across the pond' was worth even considering - it's not like we can pick up and move to England or France or Italy tomorrow.

But, I digress... This book is (IMHO) an excellent commentary on the current (2004/2005) state of the world. The US' foreign policy, consumerism, religious zeal and human rights (among other topics) are all examined and held up for scrutiny; some show promise and some give the reader reason to fear.

All in all, if you have any interest in living 'The American Dream' and how Mr. Rifkin's definition of 'The European Dream' differs from it, read this. You'll get a wonderful history lesson, some very interesting facts on America's policies and practices, and, I think, a great jumping-off point to consider where YOUR long-term place in the world may be best lived out.
950670
This is a fascinating economic history of the U. S. and Europe since WW II.  It portrays the attempts by governments to control the economy and their failures and successes.  Mostly their failures.  As our leaders twisted and turned all the knobs, growth and employment seemed to have a mind of its own, seldom giving the results wanted.  Mr. Levinson explains stagflation, what happened in Europe before 1973 and what changed for the better.  Similarly supply side economics is examined along with monetarism.  He does not have any political bias, explains both sides and spares no leader from their economic follies.
The long conflict over equality and individual freedom has led to many political mistakes.  Extreme political positions do not work for long.  Neither state ownership nor complete deregulation succeed.  In fact after reading this book I am not sure that anyone knows how to tweak money supply and interest rates for stable growth and low unemployment.  Many have tried.  Read about the results in this revealing book.
2063914
I was born in Germany in 1941, one year before the author committed suicide, possibly in dispair over the future of Europe and the Jews. We did not learn much recent history in school then. Reading this book gave me a much better understanding of that period and hopefully of current and future events. It is very unfortunate that Stefan Zweig could not see today's Europe, where his dreams of a united Europe are coming much closer to completion and where most countries get along with each other and Europeans of most countries can live in any of the other countries of the European Union. There is still more work to be done.
3015540
It's a book about Bill Ackman and his short investment thesis on MBIA, bond insurer.  This book should be read along with Mike Lewis'&nbsp;<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/The-Big-Short-Inside-the-Doomsday-Machine/dp/0393338827/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine</a>&nbsp;to understand the financial crisis of 2007-2009.  It's fascinating to read about how companies can work with its "friends" in high places to manipulate the market and short sellers.

What is scary is how these companies can bully local governments and state governments.  It also showed how the system has been rigged against the people.  It's a must-read for all investors.
1057238
Tom Woods does an excellent summary of why many of the government and central bank interventions caused the economic crash.  It's a truly free market view based on the Austrian school of economics and really does speak truth.  You have to read this for yourself and you will soon know what the majority of economists could not understand.
2784948
A very good insight into critical people and events.  A must read for those who want to understand the events spanning the decades from the 1930's to the present.
3793670
A good book of the period 1995-2007, but things might have moved on now.  I'd be looking for something that has been written post 2007, post crash, to be certain the advice is current.  Still has a lot going for it though, just be careful how you apply it until things have settled down.  (review written July 2009)
4192420
This is an excellent description of the sequence of events leading to the current financial crisis. It gives times, dates, places, and names names, on both sides of the aisle. Many good video clips of the players giving their views, again on both sides. An account of what legislation promoted which actions, who supported it and who didn't, what the results of each was, who warned, who got warned, what the response was, etc.

If you have wanted to know how we got into this mess, this is a great reference.
2202663
I simply could n ot put it down.  Well written.  Amazing new research given the time that has passed.  New insights--I walked away understanding things not only about the incident, but about how people move on with their lives and how much of what happened was adopted into procedures used round the world today in other crashes.  Thank you Laurence for writing this book.
433874
Very informative although there were some missing years I thought were significant this book goes into detail about FDR and my suspicions that FDR not only made the 1929 great depression worst but he kept the great depression and the U.S. economic crash at the lowest point in American history for his whole administration with NO improvement pass WWII.  He raided our national treasury to buy gold for his whole administration which took liquid assets away from the hands of the common man and gave it to his banker and financial friends.  I can see similarities between what FDR did to the American economy to what Obama is doing to our American economy today for the past 8 years.  From George Washington through George Bush, all the presidents created $10T of national debt over a 220 year period.  Obama created $10T in NEW national debt in just 8 years along with his massive regulations, has kept put and kept our nation on its knees for 8 years now. He's also crated a whole lost generation of young people who's had none of the baby boom generation advantages of learning and working hard to create a great generation today.
4789419
Highly recommended  take time to read and check out all that he says  it is in recorded history.

Complex.  Based on facts of past events, definitions, the Hebrew language, etc.

For example, on 29 Elul (Hebrew calendar) the stock market crashed significantly exactly seven years apart  folks should sit up and pay attention.  Then tie in the last 40 some years of stock market crashes every seven years right at the time of the end of Schemata.

You can ignore history and facts to your own wild dreams.
3145190
I heard an interview by Dean recently on Rense radio and heard this book was his thesis from 1990's that was completed in time for this printing in 2005. Dean, i just want to thank you for your dedication to the horrible reality that most aren't aware of. If you like John Pilger, Joan Veon, Marc Faber, Bill Still (Money Masters), G Edward Griffin etc then you will really appreciate this.

Just absolutely packed with knowledge that can be pretty simply confirmed when you follow-up what light is shed here by some simple investigation of your own. It is just packed. As a self taught currency trader there is a lot of confirmations that i have worked out myself about the banking system plus many many things i weren't able to place.

If you type 'The International Banking Cartel (I)' into youtube you will see a great recent interview of Dean and a glimpse of this book.

deanhenderson (dot) wordpress (dot) com is his wordpress containing exerts from his book and weekly and audio interview mp3's

Thankyou for your dedication Dean from Australia
1640745
This book is interesting, very readable, and covers the subject in a logical and meaningful way. In addition to the historical review it provides a different perspective and a detailed analysis of the underlying reasons for the financial turmoil that we have been experiencing in the recent past.
The author did an excellent job of distilling historical events that are not usually included in the traditional curriculum and are largely unknown to the general public
In the quest to understand what is happening and why, this book gave me a different perspective about where we are and the risks that we are facing in the future. It is a must read and highly recommended for anyone interested in understanding more about the financial world and how it is intertwined with the political system