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Bailout

An Inside Account of How Washington Abandoned Main Street While Rescuing Wall Street

Audiobook
0 of 1 copy available
Wait time: About 2 weeks
0 of 1 copy available
Wait time: About 2 weeks

An insider of both the Bush and Obama administrations offers an irrefutable indictment of the mishandling of the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program bailouts and the extreme degree to which our government officials—from both parties—served the interests of Wall Street at the expense of the public.

From his first day on the job as the special inspector general in charge of overseeing the distribution of the bailout money, Neil Barofsky found that the officials at the Treasury Department in charge of the bailouts were in thrall to the interests of the big banks. In vivid behind-the-scenes detail he reveals how they steadfastly failed to hold the banks accountable even as they disregarded major job losses caused by the auto bailouts and refused to help struggling homeowners. He discloses how the team at the Treasury under Secretary Timothy Geithner worked with Wall Street executives to design programs that would have funneled vast amounts of taxpayer money to their firms and allowed them to game the markets and make huge profits with almost no risk and no accountability. Providing stark details about how—through a combination of sheer incompetence and a profound disregard of the plight of homeowners—the interests of the broader public were betrayed, he recounts how an increasingly aggressive war was waged by the Treasury against his efforts to raise the alarm about the failures.

Bailout is a riveting account of his plunge into the political meat grinder of Washington, as well as a vital revelation of just how captive to Wall Street our political system is and why the too-big-to-fail banks have only become bigger and more dangerous in the wake of the crisis.

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    • AudioFile Magazine
      BAILOUT is the personal story of Neil Barofsky and his years as special inspector general in charge of the oversight of TARP. Joe Barrett narrates the ups and downs of Barofsky's experience with humor and a hint of the wisdom that comes from reflection. He provides voices for all the colorful people Barofsky meets at Treasury, in the inspector general community, and on the Hill. The most memorable voices are those of the Southern politicians who interview Barofsky and offer him advice on how to carry out his task. Throughout the story Barofsky depends on his wife (fittingly enough, a therapist) for support, and Barrett delivers her dialogue in a gentler tone that contrasts sharply with the reading of Barofsky's work experiences. E.N. © AudioFile 2012, Portland, Maine
    • Publisher's Weekly

      October 29, 2012
      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.

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  • English

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