Great Britain slipped into recession again this week. Its worth another view of how close we came to economic collapse:
The HBO movie was good. The book was so much better….and rather shocking.
Tag: wall street
Categories
Latest read: 13 Bankers
Reading 13 Bankers: The Wall Street Takeover and the Next Financial Meltdown can be considered a good introduction to the country’s long relationship between Wall Street and Congress. A new reference for how our country began its relationship with Wall Street and the massive changes during the Reagan, Clinton, W. Bush and Obama Administrations reveal how well the financial elite have directed legislation in Congress.
To read about how our republics leaders’ viewed banking was a refresher. Of course it would be a great insight to hear their views of the 2007-2009 financial collapse and the new banking world we must struggle through.
Clearly Congress was pitched a bill of goods manipulated by Wall Street. That simply bit them in the ass. I was amused to see how they were asking for the government to bail them out when their house of cards folded in on them. And yet I’m amused to read and listen to “specialists” or “experts in the field” in the financial marketplace or even the vast field of TV “analysts” who say the government is socialist for ”buying” the banks.
TARP was issued under W. Bush? If the Treasury did not step in and bail out Wall Street we would be in the middle of a global revolution. Sure — ignore it all and watch our entire economy totally collapse.
I was impressed with the book’s level of detail surrounding the relationships between W. Bush and Obama’s senior leadership (who transitioned to the Democratic White House) and their twisted histories with the major banks on Wall Street. Its clear the amount of money funneling through Congress today provides Wall Street with a clear avenue to set policy — and even give away free money. Well its not exactly free…the money handed to Wall Street to protect their horrible investment decisions on terms they could bargain for collectively. And of course they all took it.
As Jamie Dimon from JPMorgan Chase stated, somehow during the financial collapse they managed to have the best year in the company’s history — and paid out billions in bonus compensation while most Americans who purchased their products lost everything: jobs, mortgages and ultimately their future as a result of the recession that followed.
Too Big to Fail: The Inside Story of How Wall Street and Washington Fought to Save the Financial System–and Themselves is clearly my favorite (for all the wrong reasons — you know economy on the brink of collapse) book in 2010.
Six month later Sorkin’s story of the financial meltdown and shocking background stories that stunned the world still resonate – due to news that Wall Street again is on shaky ground, especially with municipal bonds
Clearly the lack of oversight and Washington’s hands-off approach to Wall Street contributed, yet as Sorkin documents the big investment banks were playing with loose money, morals and an ego the size of Canis Majoris.
Its no wonder the rich get richer and the poor get poorer when you can lose the largest trade in the history of Wall Street and actually keep your job.
With companies like Bear Stearns, Morgan Stanley, Lehman, Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae, and AIG its no wonder George W. Bush was forced to step in and save the country from a nuclear meltdown. I believe Hank Paulson’s book On the Brink: Inside the Race to Stop the Collapse of the Global Financial System tells the tale of the Bush Administration and made it to my top five list too.
With HBO’s recent commitment to make a movie from Sorkin’s book it ensures many more will be reading this in 2011.
Author’s website
Tags: Andrew Ross Sorkin, Too Big to Fail, Bear Stearns, Wall Street, Morgan Stanley, Lehman, Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae, recession, AIG, trends
Sometimes a 2.0 release is viewed as a fix for shortcomings in the initial release of just about any product….except this update from Tom Friedman: Hot, Flat, and Crowded 2.0: Why We Need a Green Revolution–and How It Can Renew America.
I quickly read version 1.0 as soon as it hit bookshelves and was just amazed at Friedman’s writing about the state of research, business and culture surrounding our planet. Missed reading this when it was originally released?
Yet as of late I have been reading so much about Wall Street’s clusterf*ck that I missed his update Hot, Flat, and Crowded 2.0: Why We Need a Green Revolution–and How It Can Renew America.
An overview to the version 2.0 release:Friedman explains how global warming, rapidly growing populations, and the astonishing expansion of the world’s middle class through globalization have produced a planet that is “hot, flat, and crowded.” In this Release 2.0 edition, he also shows how the very habits that led us to ravage the natural world led to the meltdown of the financial markets and the Great Recession. The challenge of a sustainable way of life presents the United States with an opportunity not only to rebuild its economy, but to lead the world in radically innovating toward cleaner energy. And it could inspire Americans to something we haven’t seen in a long time—nation-building—by summoning the intelligence, creativity, and concern for the common good that are our greatest national resources.
In vivid, entertaining chapters, Friedman makes it clear that the green revolution the world needs is like no revolution before. It will be the biggest innovation project in American history; it will be hard, not easy; and it will change everything from what you put into your car to what you see on your electric bill. This is a great challenge, Friedman explains, but also a great opportunity, and one that America cannot afford to miss. Not only is American leadership the key to the healing of the earth; it is also our best strategy for the renewal of America.
Or consider the following accolades for his writing:
- A New York Times Book Review Notable Book of the Year
- A Washington Post Best Book of the Year
- A Businessweek Best Business Book of the Year
- A Chicago Tribune Best Book of the Year
- A New York Times Book Review Notable Book of the Year
- A Business Week Best Business Book of the Year
- A Christian Science Monitor Best Book of the Year
- A Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Best Book of the Year
- A Booklist Editors’ Choice Best Book of the Year
- Finalist for the Dayton Literary Peace Prize
Categories
Latest read: The Big Short
Credit default swaps — those infamous three words: The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine by Michael Lewis is a fast-paced, right-to-the-point story about CDS and the collapse of Wall Street. While recent best sellers have addressed big players and multiple companies involved in the crash Lewis’s focus is just credit default swaps, how they were born, who made millions and how American taxpayers got burned in the end.
Criminal insanity with a slice of reality over a ton of F-bombs. I found it hard to put down and actually ripped through the book in a single night.
Lewis follows the few hedge fund managers who actually predicted the collapse, how they managed to bide their time and padded their wallets by betting against subprime loans. Crowdsourcing at it’s best….or worst?
Steve Eisman, Michael Burry, and Howie Hubler all have interesting roles in the credit swap and collapse (among others) that combine to document how greed, pure greed and outright criminal theft led to the economic collapse of financial giants and ruined our country.
Steve Eisman was blunt — to say the least when insulting financial CEOs but he was right all along about the coming collapse.
Why didn’t others listen to him? Maybe its how the game is stacked to reward the few and control the governing agencies. Wall Street views S&P and Moody’s as the guys unable to survive at a brokerage so they work outside the real game. Lewis has much more to show how the game is stacked for the wealthy and against middle America and especially the poor.
Maybe the best part was his explanation of how Wall Street actually pays S&P and Moody’s for their credit ratings….
Hubler made the worst trade in the history of Wall Street. He lost $9 Billion on a single trade for Morgan Stanley. And yet he was permitted to leave with a $100 million bonus. $9 B I L L I O N and he walks unscathed? Lewis briefly touches on how his actions were covered up by Morgan Stanley and buried from the light of day.