Exile on Wall Street
One Analyst's Fight to Save the Big Banks from Themselves
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3.7 • 33 Ratings
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- $18.99
Publisher Description
An insider points out the holes that still exist on Wall Street and in the banking system
Exile on Wall Street is a gripping read for anyone with an interest in business and finance, U.S. capitalism, the future of banking, and the root causes of the financial meltdown.
Award winning, veteran sell side Wall Street analyst Mike Mayo writes about one of the biggest financial and political issues of our time – the role of finance and banks in the US. He has worked at six Wall Street firms, analyzing banks and protesting against bad practices for two decades.
In Exile on Wall Street, Mayo:
Lays out practices that have diminished capitalism and the banking sector Shares his battle scars from calling truth to power at some of the largest banks in the world and how he survived challenging the status quo to be credited as one of the few who saw the crisis coming Blows the lid off the true inner workings of the big banks and shows the ways in which Wall Street is just as bad today as it was pre-crash. Analyzes the fallout stemming from the market crash, pointing out the numerous holes that still exist in the system, and offers practical solutions.
While it provides an education, this is no textbook. It is also an invaluable resource for finance practitioners and citizens alike.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
"The crisis didn't occur because of something that banks did. No, it was the natural consequence of the way banks are, even today." Financial analyst Mayo has had experience with many of the big names in banking, so it would seem prudent to heed this claim. In an attempt to shed light on what led to the financial crisis and how we can avoid another one, Mayo uses his life and career in the financial sector as a guide, beginning his account in the late 1980s with the S&L crisis and his years at the Federal Reserve. Later, he would work for UBS, Lehman Brothers, Credit Suisse, and Prudential, gaining a reputation for good work and tough, but accurate, calls. Mayo discusses the mortgage crisis and the unintended effects of subprime loans, the Lehman collapse, regulators, and the entire history of Citi, including its role in the 1929 stock market crash. Rather than simply calling foul, Mayo offers his vision for an improved version of capitalism with better systems of accounting and none of the "financial shenanigans" that have plagued the industry and weakened the economy. However, he still thinks someone should take the blame: "failure needs to carry consequences, and those consequences should be steep."
Customer Reviews
truly awesome(ful)
This book illuminates the processes and procedures being undertaken by our liassez-faire system of economics, and it is shocking that anyone could delve this far into selfishness. Really eye-opening and well written.
Fellow Wall Streeter Says "Amen!"
Mike Mayo has written a fantastic book, an indictment really, about the practices on Wall Street that have unintentionally tainted capitalism. Reading his story is a fascinating journal of his experiences on Wall Street as he battled human greed in search of the truth. But unlike many either too lazy or uninformed Mayo actually outlines real, actionable items that would go a long way in improving our system by providing more transparency and fostering more accountability in the "C" suite.
I also appreciated the personal notes along the way about what it was like being a vilified research analyst making tough calls, dealing with tragic human events along the way, and the importance of family.
Today I work for one of Mayo's former employers and appreciate how hard the road he chose to take; that of outlier, truth seeker, and contrarian, must have been. I literally had a hard time putting the book down, or my iPad in this case, and felt equally queasy by the rawness of arrogance on Wall Street on his side of the business as well and yet also inspired that there are good people in my industry trying to consistently do the right thing for the long term.
Recommend to all with an interest in Wall Street, capitalism, the economy, and the challenge of pursuing professional endeavors in a world of compromised ethics and imperfect infrastructures.