Bailout
An Inside Account of How Washington Abandoned Main Street While Rescuing Wall Street
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4.0 • 131 Ratings
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- $14.99
Publisher Description
In this "jaw-dropping play-by-play of how the Treasury Department bungled the financial bailouts" (USA TODAY), a former federal prosecutor offers behind-the-scenes proof of the corrupt ways Washington officials serve the interests of Wall Street.
At the height of the financial crisis in 2008, Neil Barofsky gave up his job as a prosecutor in the esteemed US Attorney’s Office in New York City, where he had convicted drug kingpins, Wall Street executives, and perpetrators of mortgage fraud, to become the inspector general in charge of overseeing administration of the bailout money. From the onset, his efforts to protect against fraud and to hold big banks accountable for how they spent taxpayer money were met with outright hostility from Treasury officials in charge of the bailouts.
In this bracing, page-turning account Barofsky offers an insider’s perspective on the mishandling of the $700 billion TARP (Troubled Asset Relief Program) bailout fund. With vivid behind-the-scenes detail, he reveals the extreme lengths to which our government officials were willing to go in order to serve the interests of Wall Street firms at the expense of the broader public—and at the expense of effective financial reform.
Bailout is a riveting account of Barovsky’s plunge into the political meat grinder of Washington, as well as a vital revelation of just how captured by Wall Street our political system is and why the too-big-to-fail banks have become even bigger and more dangerous in the wake of the crisis.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
A former federal prosecutor and special inspector general in charge of oversight of the Troubled Asset Relief Program, Barofsky offers this account of the government bailouts that saved big banks, but may have ignored the broader interests of the public at large. Narrator Joe Barrett's narration makes the text which can be dry at times accessible and engaging. His everyman delivery will resonate with listeners, while his skillful, well-paced narration and top-notch characterizations do justice to an important book about a topic that still affects all Americans. A Free Press hardcover.
Customer Reviews
Disheartening!
It bothers me to know that their are so many politicians that have so little regard for the American publics opinion and taxpayer. But to know that their are a few Barofsky's out there fighting for what is right gives me some relief. This book is an eye opener.
Important Book
This is a must read book. Not only is it engaging, but it made the complexities of the bailout clear and understandable. Most importantly, it made me angry. As a life long Democrat, I am furious at how the Treasury Department in a Demoratic Administration had (and probably still has) such little regard for home owners and others on "Main Street" USA but bent over backwards to bailout the banks and help the bankers get richer.
This book is well worth the time to read.
Incredibly insightful
Shines a bright light on the incredible incompetence and politically motivated favoritism given Wall Street and the horrific injustice imposed on homeowners the TARP programs were supposedly designed to help and protect. Clearly emphasizes the Treasury's consistent, and often successful, attempts at blocking transparency and accountability, and their refusal to consider virtually any attempt to avoid fraud by financial institutions, but still leaves us wondering why.