Bailout Nation: How Easy Money Corrupted Wall Street And Shook The World Economy

Description

This book provides a riveting indictment of those responsible for our current financial mess. "Bailout Nation" offers one of the clearest looks at the financial lenders, regulators, and politicians responsible for the financial crisis of 2008. Written by Barry Ritholtz, one of today's most popular economic bloggers and a well-established industry pundit, this book skillfully explores how the United States evolved from a rugged independent nation to a soft Bailout Nation - where financial firms are allowed to self-regulate in good times, but are bailed out by taxpayers in bad times. Entertaining and informative, this book clearly shows you how years of trying to control the economy with easy money has finally caught up with the federal government and how its practice of repeatedly rescuing Wall Street has come back to bite them. This is the definitive book on the financial crisis of 2008. It names the villains responsible for this tragedy - from financial regulators to politicians. It shows how each bailout throughout modern history has impacted what happened in the future.
It examines why the consumer/taxpayer is left suffering in an economy of bubbles, bailouts, and possible inflation. Scathing, but fair, "Bailout Nation" is a voice of reason in these uncertain economic times.

Reviews

"Best books to make sense of financial crisis of 2009" (USA Today) "Best business books of 2009" (Miami Herald) "Investment Book of the Year" (Stock Trader's Almanac) "Succeeds in laying out all that transpired in easy-to-understand language. If you want to know how we got into this mess and what might still be coming, this is the book for you." (Wall Street Journal) "The author writes with the fury of an insider mortified by the behavior of his heretical peers ... There is much to be said for the book's irreverence. Mr. Ritholtz has written an important book about a complicated subject, and yet you could still read it at the beach. Here's hoping that some policy makers in Washington take it with them on vacation this month." (New York Times) "Ritholtz makes a valuable new contribution to our understanding of how we arrived at this sorry juncture. He's smart, sassy and often amusing. If you're looking for an all-in-one place explanation of what went wrong and why, this is the book for you (or your confused neighbor)." (Bloomberg) "Bailout Nation's straightforward, compelling account puts the crisis in context, explains why the US government responded so stupidly, offers solutions, and advises how to prevent a repeat. Ritholtz's indictment of the financial and political establishment is devastatingly accurate." (Asia Times) "Before the housing and credit bubbles popped, Barry Ritholtz, a lawyer turned blogger and money manager, was one of the voices crying in the wilderness. His caustic (and occasionally profane) blog, The Big Picture, dissected macroeconomic news and relentlessly cut through spin. His book takes a long view of the roots of the economic crisis, tracing the history of a series of ever more expensive taxpayer-funded bailouts of failed industries." (Newsweek) "Ritholtz's book seeks to explain how the United States, once so proud, became "a nanny state for well-paid bankers. Ritholtz may be just the right person to explain the transition to both the disillusioned amateur and the finance junkie. He doesn't pull his punches or bury the truth in layers of finance-speak, caveats, and disclaimers. Since he began blogging seven years ago, in-the-know readers of his popular blog, The Big Picture, have turned to Ritholtz for his prescient, refreshingly honest commentary on the economy. Anyone interested in understanding the roots of our current crisis should check out the book.." (Freakonomics) "A comprehensive crisis scrapbook compiled by the money manager behind the popular financial blog the Big Picture in a quippy, no-nonsense voice..." (New York Magazine) "These are some of the provocative and even dangerous questions that Barry Ritholtz takes on in Bailout Nation...Above all, Bailout Nation is about the socialization of risk and the privatization of profits." (Forbes)

Author description

Barry Ritholtz operates one of today's most popular economic blogs,www.ritholtz.com/blog/, which has received over 50 million page views since launching. He is the CEO and Director of Equity Research at FusionIQ, an online quantitative research firm. He is a frequent guest on CNBC; a regular guest on Fast Money, Kudlow & Company, and Power Lunch; and author of the popular "Apprenticed Investor" column at TheStreet.com.

Table of contents

Foreword. Introduction. Part I: A Brief History of Bailouts. Chapter 1: A Brief History of Bailouts. Chapter 2: The Creation of the Federal Reserve, and Its Role in Creating our Bailout Nation. Chapter 3: Pre-Bailout Nation: (1860-1942). Chapt