Too Big to Fail

Customer Reviews

• Well Reported and Well Written  Oct 21, 2009 (73 of 78 found this helpful)

  The author has done remarkable research and has composed it into a highly readable account of the 2008 Financial Panic.
  
  What surprised me was the extent to which the likes Paulson, Geithner, people at Goldman Sachs knew in early Spring that the dominoes had lined up and yet in a sense couldn't stop them from toppling. Conventional wisdom until now has been that Paulson & Bernanke were unprepared & totally blindsided by the sudden loss of confidence in September. Sorkin writes this was untrue, he has furnished a memo written by Neel Kashkari in early APRIL outlining a last-ditch "Break the glass" plan that later came out to be.....TARP!.
  
  He also gives you an hour-by-hour account of that fateful week in Sept by telling the story of all the players. What would amaze you, is the sheer number of merger combinations that were attempted but didn;t succeed. Like JP Morgan buying Morgan Stanley for $1 a share, or Goldman merging with Citi, Paulson trying to entice Lewis to buy Lehman.
  
  Its fascinating as to how little time Geithner & Co. had to draw up a plan to rescue AIG. It will leave you somewhat sympathetic to their decision to pay its counterparties 100 cents on the dollar. Which seems like a big mistake when considered in retrospect. As you might expect, AIG top management & FP division come across as clueless & insanely irresponsible.
  
  Sorkin's tone throughout the book is objective and nuanced. He doesn't flatter anyone in particular. He lays out sufficient details and lets you form an impression of each of the players.

• Excellent recount of a monumental financial crisis  Oct 20, 2009 (38 of 52 found this helpful)

  Some of you folks are truly amazing. This book provides incredible insight into one of the most gut wrenching financial crises this nation has ever endured. And... You're arguing about pricing? And worse, basing your review on that! As someone else wrote, review the content -- that's what a book review is all about. And this one rates five stars for content. To get inside the minds of those who were faced with making decisions affecting the direction of this country's financial systems is truly enlightening and extremely sobering. If you have any interest at all in things financial - read this book. I guarantee you the little hairs on the back of your neck will stand on end.

• Fascinating but missing something  Nov 9, 2009 (6 of 8 found this helpful)

  In terms of reporting, this book is fascinating. The personality profiles and rich details combine to make a fascinating read. But as I turned page after page, I felt as if something was missing. And then it hit me. The title of this book unwittingly speaks to the egos of the men (and there almost all men) who comprise the world of high finance. Absent from the analysis is any serious consideration of the underlying structure that allows these egos to flourish. Indeed, the root of the financial crisis has little to do with the men on whom Sorkin focuses and everything, I believe, with the failure of the financial regulatory system to protect them (and ultimately all of us) from themselves. Greed has always been with us. And excessive greed has always been the hallmark of Wall Street. What distinguishes the current financial crisis from those of prior decades, however, is that today's Wall Street titans have far greater access to other people's money than in years past.

• Strong Recommendation  Oct 28, 2009 (6 of 8 found this helpful)

  I have read many books on last year's economic crisis, and this book if not the best is certainly one of them. It is a well-written description on literally a day to day basis of the events in NYC and DC that changed our economic landscape forever. The book allows us to know the thoughts of many of the major participants and details the reasons for the actions taken, and shows us how close we came to an economic collapse. I strongly recommend it. Too Big to Fail: The Inside Story of How Wall Street and Washington Fought to Save the Financial System---and Themselves

• The Definitive Book on Financial Crisis  Oct 30, 2009 (8 of 11 found this helpful)

  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.