Gregory Forsthoefel |
01/12/2009

Simply a chronology

  

The book details the events, the people and the conversations that roiled the banks in 2008. The book does not really discuss why the events happened. If you're looking to understand why these banks fell, this is not the book to read.

The book is very readable and even at 539 pages, a person can finish it quickly. Another plus is that unlike most NY Times reporters, the author keeps most of his opinions out of the story until the last 2 pages.

His opinions are:

The government allowing Lehman to go into bankruptcy was the catalyst that caused the floodgates to open. This is probably why he spends a lot of the book developing the Lehman story.

He's ambivalent about whether the government players could have prevented the collapse of the banks or even if they did the right things when they did act. But he's quite clear that more banking regulation was needed then and is needed now.

One can disagree with his opinions, but he does well to leave most of them till the end of the book.

A few criticisms:

As mentioned, he does not discuss why exactly these events happened. In the epilogue, he briefly mentions 4 events that percolated over 10 years that conspired to cause the perfect storm in 2008. But he could have spent a chapter (prologue) describing these events and how they conspired to cause the problem. Apparently he's not a banker or an academic, so maybe he didn't feel qualified to do this.

Second criticism: In a few places prior to his epilogue, he lets us know his (negative) opinion of some players. It's obvious his disdain for Chris Cox and Sheila Bair. But he's particularly vitriolic towards the Wall Street Journal editorial page. I thought that as a chronicler, the author should have omitted his opinions of these people/institutions. Except for these incidents, he does largely keeps his opinions out of the manuscript until the last few pages.

Overall, a quick read that details the players and the chronology of events. If all you need is to understand the crisis, then this book should suffice.

John O. Clark |
24/11/2009

After reading two other well-publicized books on the real estate bubble and following market crash, I felt like I had been had. One book, primarily about Lehman, was shallow and written by an egotistical prima donna. The other was too technical and appeared to not have been edited well. This book was written by a finanial author and is fair, thorough, and puts everything in perspective. It is well-written and flows for an easy read. If you have any interest in financial history, this book belongs on your shelf along with other classics like When Genius Failed, Barbarians at the Gate, and the Smartest Guys in the Room. Ignore the poor ratings by those who were disappointed in the Kindle price. That is another issue.

Alan |
18/11/2009

A Real Page Turner

)

This is an excellent book that reads like something that Dan Brown might have written. But its real. The part that amazed me was the level of detail Sorkin was able to get about behind the scenes conversations that took place. Stuff about how people such as Dick Fuld of Lehman reacted to the problems when it was becoming clear that the company was going down and he was in denial. How Paulson was reacting to things when there were no rules about what to do.

But probably the most interesting parts were how the different personalities were reacting while the ground was shifting under them. At the peak, many of the people involved were literally working 24 hours a day highlighted by a phone call made to Vikram Pandit, CEO of Citibank at 3 am telling how a deal he made at midnight for Wachovia had instead been trumped by another and that that deal had already been signed and blessed by the government. How major decisions were being made on the run and how solid institutions became institutions on the brink in a matter of hours.

The book also explains how companies like Barclays and China Investment Corporation were working behind the scenes as well how Paulson, Geithener and others in the government were scrambling to keep things from collapsing. There is a lot of Monday Morning Quarterbacking going on and some of the things these people did may not have been the best, but they pulled it off and we should all be grateful.

But there some bad guys, namely the short sellers and as usual some in congress. The book makes clear that out of control short selling added fuel to the flames that were occurring and that when we were facing this emergency some members of Congress were focused on their own butt instead of doing what was needed.

There is a huge cast in this book and its is sometimes hard to keep the people and their roles straight, but make the effort. You will be rewarded.

Elliott J. Hahn |
28/10/2009

Strong Recommendation

R. Spell |
15/07/2009

My compliments to the author who through exhaustive research and sources retraces the tough decisions that were being made as the fabric of our financial system was coming apart. Normal Americans may not realize that our country’s growth was built with massive financing so when the financing is NOT available, we entered an “asset devaluation vortex” that can be catastrophic. Couple this with the large investment banks relying mainly on commercial paper which is rolled over weekly and suddenly investors hurtled for the door all at the same time. Standing there was Paulson, Geithner and Bernanke trying to hold the world together.

I give them high marks for attempting to stop the panic. I doubt it was constitutionally correct, and these free market disciples never imagined they would be closing the door and forcing people to do deals with the ultimate hammer of shutting them down Monday if they didn’t.

I would love to know who all the sources were but he traces virtually every meeting. Dick Fuld from Lehman comes off particularly badly and Dimon and Chase come off as bullies that looked out for their own interest as they tried to help the country.

It’s easy to “Monday Morning Quarterback” and place blame. These guys made a massive effort to save the system and I applaud the hard work and fast thinking. If this book should accomplish anything it should show the connection of Wall Street Finance and Politics and how their different thought processes do not compute and led us to a very dangerous intersection. With a long career in finance I am just fascinated at what we went through! It wasn’t the “Great Depression” but in many ways the crippling of the financial center was of that magnitude.

This is a book to get a play by play of what was happening and it reads fast and furious. It is not an analysis but rather a play by play account. If you want an opinion or an explanation of what happened this is not your book. If you want to know in “real time” what was done to get us through this mess, this is a MASTERPIECE.