Publisher Description
The dramatic story behind the most audacious power grab in American history The financial crisis that exploded in 2008 isn’t past but prologue. The stunning rise, fall, and rescue of Wall Street in the bubble-and-bailout era was the coming-out party for the network of looters who sit at the nexus of American political and economic power. The grifter class—made up of the largest players in the financial industry and the politicians who do their bidding—has been growing in power for a generation, transferring wealth upward through increasingly complex financial mechanisms and political maneuvers. The crisis was only one terrifying manifestation of how they’ve hijacked America’s political and economic life. Rolling Stone’s Matt Taibbi here unravels the whole fiendish story, digging beyond the headlines to get into the deeper roots and wider implications of the rise of the grifters. He traces the movement’s origins to the cult of Ayn Rand and her most influential—and possibly weirdest—acolyte, Alan Greenspan, and offers fresh reporting on the backroom deals that decided the winners and losers in the government bailouts. He uncovers the hidden commodities bubble that transferred billions of dollars to Wall Street while creating food shortages around the world, and he shows how finance dominates politics, from the story of investment bankers auctioning off America’s infrastructure to an inside account of the high-stakes battle for health-care reform—a battle the true reformers lost. Finally, he tells the story of Goldman Sachs, the “vampire squid wrapped around the face of humanity.” Taibbi has combined deep sources, trailblazing reportage, and provocative analysis to create the most lucid, emotionally galvanizing, and scathingly funny account yet written of the ongoing political and financial crisis in America. This is essential reading for anyone who wants to understand the labyrinthine inner workings of politics and finance in this country, and the profound consequences for us all.
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“I have read several books about the financial crisis–and we are still in the middle of it–but none with the impact of this one. Read this book. Read about the crimes of Wall Street, including insider trading, fraud, bribery, extortion, etc., and the unholy alliance of Wall Street and Washington.. Read how all of us taxpayers were screwed in the 2008 bailout to make sure that Wall Street bankers could keep getting six-figure bonuses. Read about the lies of Obamacare, which did not even remove the anti-trust exemption of the insurance industry, but instead guaranteed it millions of new customers and more taxpayer subsidies. Read how Wall Street has systematically jacked up oil prices over the past 8-10 years, and then read how Chicago, Indiana and many other jurisdictions have sold pieces of American Sovereignty to foreign investors (with large fees to Wall Street), whose funds come primarily from American oil purchases. Read how the Tea Party is subsidized by Wall Street as a diversion to the real issues, and how elections are nothing but Wall Street Democrats vs. Wall Street Republicans. We are all screwed, and you will want to kill someone from Goldman Sachs.”
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Steve (5 out of 5 stars)
