Simon Johnson is Ronald A. Kurtz Professor of
Entrepreneurship at MIT s Sloan School of Management and a senior
fellow of the Peterson Institute for International Economics. He is
coauthor, with James Kwak, of The Baseline Scenario, a leading
economic blog, described by Paul Krugman as a must-read and by Bill
Moyers as one of the most informative news sites in the
blogosphere.
James Kwak has had a successful business career as a
consultant for McKinsey & Company and as a software entrepreneur."
"How Modern Wall Street the most powerful and concentrated
financial sector in the country s history both created the
financial crisis and ensured a bail-out for its own benefit."
The Economist
"Mr. Johnson offers an enticing vision of a Wall Street confined,
its potency limited to put-downs and head-shaking: a Wall Street
where right-sized banking is a do-gooder word for a safer, saner
system that has learned from its mistakes."
David Weidner, Wall Street Journal
The best explanation yet for how the smart guys on Wall Street led
us to the brink of collapse. In the process, Johnson and Kwak
demystify our financial system, stripping it down to expose the
ruthless power grab that lies at its center.
Elizabeth Warren, Leo Gottlieb Professor of Law, Harvard Law
School; and Chair, TARP Congressional Oversight Panel
Too many discussions of the Great Recession present it as a purely
economic phenomenon the result of excessive leverage or errors of
monetary policy or algorithms run mad. Simon Johnson was the first
to point out that this was and is a crisis of political economy.
His and James Kwak's analysis of the unholy inter-twining of
Washington and Wall Street a cross between the gilded age and a
banana republic is essential reading.
Niall Ferguson, Professor of History, Harvard University;
Professor, Harvard Business School; and author of The Ascent of
Money
If the wads of money you re stuffed into your mattress for
safekeeping don t keep you up at night, 13 Bankers will. A
disturbing and painstakingly researched account of how the banks
wrenched control of government and society out of our hands and
what we can do to seize it back.
Bill Moyers
Essential reading for anyone who wants to understand what comes
next for the world economy. Dangerous and reckless elements of our
financial sector have become too powerful and must be reined in. If
this problem is not addressed there is serious trouble in all our
futures.
Nouriel Roubini, Professor of Economics, Leonard N. Stern School of
Business, New York University; and Chairman of Roubini Global
Economics
Beautifully written and powerful. Ties the current financial crisis
to a cycle of politics as old as the Republic, and to a pathology
in our politics that is as profound as any that our Republic has
faced. Required reading for the president, and for anyone else who
cares for this Republic.
Lawrence Lessig, Director of the Edmond J. Safra Foundation for
Ethics, Harvard University
Simon Johnson makes it clear that our financial system is broken,
and that Wall Street and Washington broke it. Sadly, he also makes
it clear that they want to keep it that way. His gripping book
explains how the economic crisis developed and what must be done to
create a fair system, one that will benefit all Americans rather
than just those who are the members of the club.
Herbert A. Allen III, President and Chief Executive Officer, Allen
& Company
The U.S. financial sector is incredibly bloated and a drain on the
productive economy. It uses its enormous economic power to buy
politicians and policies that favor its interests and perpetuates
its power. This is the main argument of Simon Johnson s new book.
The views expressed are especially striking because Johnson is the
former chief economist at the IMF. He has had decades of experience
dealing with financial crises. This often required working with
corrupt governments dominated by powerful financial interests. It
is striking to see Johnson putting the U.S. government in this
category.
Dean Baker, Co-Founder and Co-Director of the Center for Economic
and Policy Research
Johnson and Kwak embed the financial crisis in a sophisticated
analysis of US economic history, explain its evolution with unusual
clarity and propose policy reforms to prevent its ever happening
again that are both straight forward and compelling.
C. Fred Bergsten, Director, Peterson Institute for International
Economics
13 Bankers is surely the only book about the financial crisis
2007-09 that begins with a quote from The Great Gatsby. But, the
analogy is appropriate. Johnson and Kwak not only tell us in great
detail how the crisis happened and what we must do to avoid another
crisis, but they see the deeper political and cultural context that
permitted carelessness and excess nearly to break the financial
system and plunge us into a depression.
Bill Bradley, former United States Senator
13 Bankers is a chilling tale of the dangers of concentrated
economic, intellectual, and political power. Even if you do not
agree with everything the authors have to say, this book makes it
clear why ending too big to fail and reforming the institutions
that perpetuate it particularly the Federal Reserve are essential
for our nation s future economic prosperity and, more
fundamentally, our democratic system.
U.S. Senator Jim Bunning
This is a timely, informative and important book. You may not agree
with all the analysis but the issues so clearly discussed are real,
current and vitally important. Financial industry reform must be
undertaken soon; inaction, as the authors convincingly argue, would
have dangerous consequences. This book explains it all and it s
great reading.
Lawrence K. Fish, former Chairman and Chief Executive Officer,
Citizens Financial Group
What Simon Johnson is telling us is that we are subjecting
ourselves to rule by a self-perpetuating banking oligarchy. Which
leaves two questions: Are we listening? And if we are, then what
are we going to do about it?
Congressman Alan Grayson
13 Bankers is a tour de force. For those many Americans who believe
they have never received an adequate explanation about why the
United States economy crashed in 2008, who is to blame, where their
tax dollars went, and why the villains have thrived while everyone
else has suffered, read this book or be prepared for history to
repeat itself soon.
Michael Greenberger, Professor of Law, University of Maryland
School of Law School; Former Director, Trading and Markets
Division, Commodity Futures Trading Commission
Prescient and powerful, 13 Bankers provides a battle plan for the
fight to ensure that America s too big to fail megabanks will no
longer be able to hold the global economy hostage while
accumulating record profits, doling out obscene bonuses, and
spending millions of dollars on lobbying to gut financial reform.
Johnson and Kwak demonstrate that what is good for Wall Street is
decidedly not good for Main Street, and present a bracing, and at
times frightening, analysis of how Big Finance has undermined our
political system. Most importantly, they offer specific proposals
for turning things around. Our future depends on fixing our
financial system; 13 Bankers shows us how.
Arianna Huffington
13 Bankers is an absolutely brilliant and spellbinding forensic
analysis of Main Street s economic murder at the hands of financial
behemoths who gambled recklessly with the taxpayers' chips while
paying Washington to look the other way. From Jefferson and Jackson
to South Korea and Russia, the book traverses time and space in
documenting that banks that are too big to fail are far too big to
be preserved. The message is clear: bust the financial trusts and
do it now!
Laurence J. Kotlikoff, Professor of Economics, Boston University,
and author of Jimmy Stewart Is Dead.
13 Bankers explains our financial crisis in the context of the
recent experience of other nations and our own history. Our
financial crisis fits a tediously familiar pattern of unrestrained,
vulgar excess followed by collapse. We should heed the lesson that
Simon Johnson and James Kwak draw: the continued concentration of
economic and political power makes future economic crises
inevitable and undermines democracy.
Congressman Brad Miller
As Simon Johnson makes lucidly and compellingly clear, the problem
with Wall Street leads directly to the core problem of our
democracy. American politics now feeds on money, and Wall Street is
where the money is. Unless we separate money from politics, we'll
never be safe from another financial meltdown. In fact, we'll never
really be safe. Read this fine book and get to work.
Robert B. Reich, Professor of Public Policy, University of
California at Berkeley, Former U.S. Secretary of Labor
Over the last 50 years, the FAA, the airline manufacturers, and the
airlines worked together to make a highly complex air travel system
more efficient and much safer. If you ve ever wondered why, in
contrast, our financial regulators and banks made our financial
system less efficient and much more dangerous, you should read this
book.
Paul Romer, Senior Fellow, Center for International Development,
and Institute for Economic Policy Research, Stanford University
Johnson and Kwak deftly survey the roots and aftermath of the
financial panic of 2007-2009, daring to ask whether institutions
deemed "too big to fail" are merely a symptom of a Wall Street that
is "too well-connected to fail." Now, as policymakers, we find
ourselves at a crossroads. Will we perpetuate this phenomenon or
will we finally stand up to the barons of high finance? According
to the authors, it is not too late to redraw the lines of
regulation to protect taxpayers, investors, borrowers, and
ultimately the financial system from itself. We in Congress would
be wise to take their advice.
Congressman Brad Sherman"
"How Modern Wall Street--the most powerful and concentrated
financial sector in the country's history--both created the
financial crisis and ensured a bail-out for its own benefit."
--"The Economist
"
"Mr. Johnson offers an enticing vision of a Wall Street confined,
its potency limited to put-downs and head-shaking: a Wall Street
where right-sized banking is a do-gooder word for a safer, saner
system that has learned from its mistakes."
--David Weidner, "Wall Street Journal"
"The best explanation yet for how the smart guys on Wall Street led
us to the brink of collapse. In the process, Johnson and Kwak
demystify our financial system, stripping it down to expose the
ruthless power grab that lies at its center."
-- Elizabeth Warren, Leo Gottlieb Professor of Law, Harvard Law
School; and Chair, TARP Congressional Oversight Panel
"Too many discussions of the Great Recession present it as a purely
economic phenomenon - the result of excessive leverage or errors of
monetary policy or algorithms run mad. Simon Johnson was the first
to point out that this was and is a crisis of political economy.
His and James Kwak's analysis of the unholy inter-twining of
Washington and Wall Street - a cross between the gilded age and a
banana republic - is essential reading."
-- Niall Ferguson, Professor of History, Harvard University;
Professor, Harvard Business School; and author of" The Ascent of
Money"
"If the wads of money you're stuffed into your mattress for
safekeeping don't keep you up at night, "13 Bankers" will. A
disturbing and painstakingly researched account of how the banks
wrenched control of government and society out of our hands - and
what we can do to seize it back."
-- Bill Moyers
"Essential reading for anyone who wants to understand what comes
next for the world economy. Dangerous and reckless elements of our
financial sector have become too powerful and must be reined in. If
this problem is not addressed there is serious trouble in all our
futures."
-- Nouriel Roubini, Professor of Economics, Leonard N. Stern School
of Business, New York University; and Chairman of Roubini Global
Economics
"Beautifully written and powerful. Ties the current financial
crisis to a cycle of politics as old as the Republic, and to a
pathology in our politics that is as profound as any that our
Republic has faced. Required reading for the president, and for
anyone else who cares for this Republic."
-- Lawrence Lessig, Director of the Edmond J. Safra Foundation for
Ethics, Harvard University
"Simon Johnson makes it clear that our financial system is broken,
and that Wall Street and Washington broke it. Sadly, he also makes
it clear that they want to keep it that way. His gripping book
explains how the economic crisis developed and what must be done to
create a fair system, one that will benefit all Americans rather
than just those who are the members of the club."
-- Herbert A. Allen III, President and Chief Executive Officer,
Allen & Company
"The U.S. financial sector is incredibly bloated and a drain on the
productive economy. It uses its enormous economic power to buy
politicians and policies that favor its interests and perpetuates
its power. This is the main argument of Simon Johnson's new book.
The views expressed are especially striking because Johnson is the
former chief economist at the IMF. He has had decades of experience
dealing with financial crises. This often required working with
corrupt governments dominated by powerful financial interests. It
is striking to see Johnson putting the U.S. government in this
category."
-- Dean Baker, Co-Founder and Co-Director of the Center for
Economic and Policy Research
"Johnson and Kwak embed the financial crisis in a sophisticated
analysis of US economic history, explain its evolution with unusual
clarity and propose policy reforms to prevent its ever happening
again that are both straight forward and compelling."
-- C. Fred Bergsten, Director, Peterson Institute for International
Economics
""13 Bankers" is surely the only book about the financial crisis
2007-09 that begins with a quote from "The Great Gatsby." But, the
analogy is appropriate. Johnson and Kwak not only tell us in great
detail how the crisis happened and what we must do to avoid another
crisis, but they see the deeper political and cultural context that
permitted carelessness and excess nearly to break the financial
system and plunge us into a depression."
-- Bill Bradley, former United States Senator
""13 Bankers" is a chilling tale of the dangers of concentrated
economic, intellectual, and political power. Even if you do not
agree with everything the authors have to say, this book makes it
clear why ending "too big to fail" and reforming the institutions
that perpetuate it - particularly the Federal Reserve - are
essential for our nation's future economic prosperity and, more
fundamentally, our democratic system."
-- U.S. Senator Jim Bunning
"This is a timely, informative and important book. You may not
agree with all the analysis but the issues so clearly discussed are
real, current and vitally important. Financial industry reform must
be undertaken soon; inaction, as the authors convincingly argue,
would have dangerous consequences. This book explains it all and
it's great reading."
-- Lawrence K. Fish, former Chairman and Chief Executive Officer,
Citizens Financial Group
"What Simon Johnson is telling us is that we are subjecting
ourselves to rule by a self-perpetuating banking oligarchy. Which
leaves two questions: Are we listening? And if we are, then what
are we going to do about it?"
-- Congressman Alan Grayson
""13 Bankers" is a tour de force. For those many Americans who
believe they have never received an adequate explanation about why
the United States economy crashed in 2008, who is to blame, where
their tax dollars went, and why the villains have thrived while
everyone else has suffered, read this book or be prepared for
history to repeat itself soon."
-- Michael Greenberger, Professor of Law, University of Maryland
School of Law School; Former Director, Trading and Markets
Division, Commodity Futures Trading Commission
"Prescient and powerful, "13 Bankers" provides a battle plan for
the fight to ensure that America's 'too big to fail' megabanks will
no longer be able to hold the global economy hostage while
accumulating record profits, doling out obscene bonuses, and
spending millions of dollars on lobbying to gut financial reform.
Johnson and Kwak demonstrate that what is good for Wall Street is
decidedly not good for Main Street, and present a bracing, and at
times frightening, analysis of how Big Finance has undermined our
political system. Most importantly, they offer specific proposals
for turning things around. Our future depends on fixing our
financial system; "13 Bankers" shows us how."
-- Arianna Huffington
""13 Bankers" is an absolutely brilliant and spellbinding forensic
analysis of Main Street's economic murder at the hands of financial
behemoths who gambled recklessly with the taxpayers' chips while
paying Washington to look the other way. From Jefferson and Jackson
to South Korea and Russia, the book traverses time and space in
documenting that banks that are 'too big to fail' are far too big
to be preserved. The message is clear: bust the financial trusts
and do it now!"
-- Laurence J. Kotlikoff, Professor of Economics, Boston
University, and author of "Jimmy Stewart Is Dead."
""13 Bankers" explains our financial crisis in the context of the
recent experience of other nations and our own history. Our
financial crisis fits a tediously familiar pattern of unrestrained,
vulgar excess followed by collapse. We should heed the lesson that
Simon Johnson and James Kwak draw: the continued concentration of
economic and political power makes future economic crises
inevitable and undermines democracy."
-- Congressman Brad Miller
"As Simon Johnson makes lucidly and compellingly clear, the problem
with Wall Street leads directly to the core problem of our
democracy. American politics now feeds on money, and Wall Street is
where the money is. Unless we separate money from politics, we'll
never be safe from another financial meltdown. In fact, we'll never
really be safe. Read this fine book and get to work."
-- Robert B. Reich, Professor of Public Policy, University of
California at Berkeley, Former U.S. Secretary of Labor
"Over the last 50 years, the FAA, the airline manufacturers, and
the airlines worked together to make a highly complex air travel
system more efficient and much safer. If you've ever wondered why,
in contrast, our financial regulators and banks made our financial
system less efficient and much more dangerous, you should read this
book."
-- Paul Romer, Senior Fellow, Center for International Development,
and Institute for Economic Policy Research, Stanford University
"Johnson and Kwak deftly survey the roots and aftermath of the
financial panic of 2007-2009, daring to ask whether institutions
deemed "too big to fail" are merely a symptom of a Wall Street that
is "too well-connected to fail." Now, as policymakers, we find
ourselves at a crossroads. Will we perpetuate this phenomenon or
will we finally stand up to the barons of high finance? According
to the authors, it is not too late to redraw the lines of
regulation to protect taxpayers, investors, borrowers, and
ultimately the financial system from itself. We in Congress would
be wise to take their advice."
-- Congressman Brad Sherman
"How Modern Wall Street the most powerful and concentrated
financial sector in the country s history both created the
financial crisis and ensured a bail-out for its own benefit."
The Economist
"Mr. Johnson offers an enticing vision of a Wall Street confined,
its potency limited to put-downs and head-shaking: a Wall Street
where right-sized banking is a do-gooder word for a safer, saner
system that has learned from its mistakes."
David Weidner, Wall Street Journal
The best explanation yet for how the smart guys on Wall Street led
us to the brink of collapse. In the process, Johnson and Kwak
demystify our financial system, stripping it down to expose the
ruthless power grab that lies at its center.
Elizabeth Warren, Leo Gottlieb Professor of Law, Harvard Law
School; and Chair, TARP Congressional Oversight Panel
Too many discussions of the Great Recession present it as a purely
economic phenomenon the result of excessive leverage or errors of
monetary policy or algorithms run mad. Simon Johnson was the first
to point out that this was and is a crisis of political economy.
His and James Kwak's analysis of the unholy inter-twining of
Washington and Wall Street a cross between the gilded age and a
banana republic is essential reading.
Niall Ferguson, Professor of History, Harvard University;
Professor, Harvard Business School; and author of The Ascent of
Money
If the wads of money you re stuffed into your mattress for
safekeeping don t keep you up at night, 13 Bankers will. A
disturbing and painstakingly researched account of how the banks
wrenched control of government and society out of our hands and
what we can do to seize it back.
Bill Moyers
Essential reading for anyone who wants to understand what comes
next for the world economy. Dangerous and reckless elements of our
financial sector have become too powerful and must be reined in. If
this problem is not addressed there is serious trouble in all our
futures.
Nouriel Roubini, Professor of Economics, Leonard N. Stern
School of Business, New York University; and Chairman of Roubini
Global Economics
Beautifully written and powerful. Ties the current financial crisis
to a cycle of politics as old as the Republic, and to a pathology
in our politics that is as profound as any that our Republic has
faced. Required reading for the president, and for anyone else who
cares for this Republic.
Lawrence Lessig, Director of the Edmond J. Safra Foundation for
Ethics, Harvard University
Simon Johnson makes it clear that our financial system is broken,
and that Wall Street and Washington broke it. Sadly, he also makes
it clear that they want to keep it that way. His gripping book
explains how the economic crisis developed and what must be done to
create a fair system, one that will benefit all Americans rather
than just those who are the members of the club.
Herbert A. Allen III, President and Chief Executive Officer, Allen
& Company
The U.S. financial sector is incredibly bloated and a drain on the
productive economy. It uses its enormous economic power to buy
politicians and policies that favor its interests and perpetuates
its power. This is the main argument of Simon Johnson s new book.
The views expressed are especially striking because Johnson is the
former chief economist at the IMF. He has had decades of experience
dealing with financial crises. This often required working with
corrupt governments dominated by powerful financial interests. It
is striking to see Johnson putting the U.S. government in this
category.
Dean Baker, Co-Founder and Co-Director of the Center for Economic
and Policy Research
Johnson and Kwak embed the financial crisis in a sophisticated
analysis of US economic history, explain its evolution with unusual
clarity and propose policy reforms to prevent its ever happening
again that are both straight forward and compelling.
C. Fred Bergsten, Director, Peterson Institute for International
Economics
13 Bankers is surely the only book about the financial
crisis 2007-09 that begins with a quote from The Great
Gatsby. But, the analogy is appropriate. Johnson and Kwak not
only tell us in great detail how the crisis happened and what we
must do to avoid another crisis, but they see the deeper political
and cultural context that permitted carelessness and excess nearly
to break the financial system and plunge us into a depression.
Bill Bradley, former United States Senator
13 Bankers is a chilling tale of the dangers of concentrated
economic, intellectual, and political power. Even if you do not
agree with everything the authors have to say, this book makes it
clear why ending too big to fail and reforming the institutions
that perpetuate it particularly the Federal Reserve are essential
for our nation s future economic prosperity and, more
fundamentally, our democratic system.
U.S. Senator Jim Bunning
This is a timely, informative and important book. You may not agree
with all the analysis but the issues so clearly discussed are real,
current and vitally important. Financial industry reform must be
undertaken soon; inaction, as the authors convincingly argue, would
have dangerous consequences. This book explains it all and it s
great reading.
Lawrence K. Fish, former Chairman and Chief Executive Officer,
Citizens Financial Group
What Simon Johnson is telling us is that we are subjecting
ourselves to rule by a self-perpetuating banking oligarchy. Which
leaves two questions: Are we listening? And if we are, then what
are we going to do about it?
Congressman Alan Grayson
13 Bankers is a tour de force. For those many Americans who
believe they have never received an adequate explanation about why
the United States economy crashed in 2008, who is to blame, where
their tax dollars went, and why the villains have thrived while
everyone else has suffered, read this book or be prepared for
history to repeat itself soon.
Michael Greenberger, Professor of Law, University of Maryland
School of Law School; Former Director, Trading and Markets
Division, Commodity Futures Trading Commission
Prescient and powerful, 13 Bankers provides a battle plan
for the fight to ensure that America s too big to fail megabanks
will no longer be able to hold the global economy hostage while
accumulating record profits, doling out obscene bonuses, and
spending millions of dollars on lobbying to gut financial reform.
Johnson and Kwak demonstrate that what is good for Wall Street is
decidedly not good for Main Street, and present a bracing, and at
times frightening, analysis of how Big Finance has undermined our
political system. Most importantly, they offer specific proposals
for turning things around. Our future depends on fixing our
financial system; 13 Bankers shows us how.
Arianna Huffington
13 Bankers is an absolutely brilliant and spellbinding
forensic analysis of Main Street s economic murder at the hands of
financial behemoths who gambled recklessly with the taxpayers'
chips while paying Washington to look the other way. From Jefferson
and Jackson to South Korea and Russia, the book traverses time and
space in documenting that banks that are too big to fail are far
too big to be preserved. The message is clear: bust the financial
trusts and do it now!
Laurence J. Kotlikoff, Professor of Economics, Boston University,
and author of Jimmy Stewart Is Dead.
13 Bankers explains our financial crisis in the context of
the recent experience of other nations and our own history. Our
financial crisis fits a tediously familiar pattern of unrestrained,
vulgar excess followed by collapse. We should heed the lesson that
Simon Johnson and James Kwak draw: the continued concentration of
economic and political power makes future economic crises
inevitable and undermines democracy.
Congressman Brad Miller
As Simon Johnson makes lucidly and compellingly clear, the problem
with Wall Street leads directly to the core problem of our
democracy. American politics now feeds on money, and Wall Street is
where the money is. Unless we separate money from politics, we'll
never be safe from another financial meltdown. In fact, we'll never
really be safe. Read this fine book and get to work.
Robert B. Reich, Professor of Public Policy, University of
California at Berkeley, Former U.S. Secretary of Labor
Over the last 50 years, the FAA, the airline manufacturers, and the
airlines worked together to make a highly complex air travel system
more efficient and much safer. If you ve ever wondered why, in
contrast, our financial regulators and banks made our financial
system less efficient and much more dangerous, you should read this
book.
Paul Romer, Senior Fellow, Center for International Development,
and Institute for Economic Policy Research, Stanford University
Johnson and Kwak deftly survey the roots and aftermath of the
financial panic of 2007-2009, daring to ask whether institutions
deemed "too big to fail" are merely a symptom of a Wall Street that
is "too well-connected to fail." Now, as policymakers, we find
ourselves at a crossroads. Will we perpetuate this phenomenon or
will we finally stand up to the barons of high finance? According
to the authors, it is not too late to redraw the lines of
regulation to protect taxpayers, investors, borrowers, and
ultimately the financial system from itself. We in Congress would
be wise to take their advice.
Congressman Brad Sherman"
"How Modern Wall Street--the most powerful and concentrated
financial sector in the country's history--both created the
financial crisis and ensured a bail-out for its own benefit."
--"The Economist
"
"Mr. Johnson offers an enticing vision of a Wall Street confined,
its potency limited to put-downs and head-shaking: a Wall Street
where right-sized banking is a do-gooder word for a safer, saner
system that has learned from its mistakes."
--David Weidner, "Wall Street Journal"
"The best explanation yet for how the smart guys on Wall Street led
us to the brink of collapse. In the process, Johnson and Kwak
demystify our financial system, stripping it down to expose the
ruthless power grab that lies at its center."
-- Elizabeth Warren, Leo Gottlieb Professor of Law, Harvard Law
School; and Chair, TARP Congressional Oversight Panel
"Too many discussions of the Great Recession present it as a purely
economic phenomenon - the result of excessive leverage or errors of
monetary policy or algorithms run mad. Simon Johnson was the first
to point out that this was and is a crisis of political economy.
His and James Kwak's analysis of the unholy inter-twining of
Washington and Wall Street - a cross between the gilded age and a
banana republic - is essential reading."
-- Niall Ferguson, Professor of History, Harvard University;
Professor, Harvard Business School; and author of" The Ascent of
Money"
"If the wads of money you're stuffed into your mattress for
safekeeping don't keep you up at night, "13 Bankers" will. A
disturbing and painstakingly researched account of how the banks
wrenched control of government and society out of our hands - and
what we can do to seize it back."
-- Bill Moyers
"Essential reading for anyone who wants to understand what comes
next for the world economy. Dangerous and reckless elements of our
financial sector have become too powerful and must be reined in. If
this problem is not addressed there is serious trouble in all our
futures."
-- Nouriel Roubini, Professor of Economics, Leonard N. Stern School
of Business, New York University; and Chairman of Roubini Global
Economics
"Beautifully written and powerful. Ties the current financial
crisis to a cycle of politics as old as the Republic, and to a
pathology in our politics that is as profound as any that our
Republic has faced. Required reading for the president, and for
anyone else who cares for this Republic."
-- Lawrence Lessig, Director of the Edmond J. Safra Foundation for
Ethics, Harvard University
"Simon Johnson makes it clear that our financial system is broken,
and that Wall Street and Washington broke it. Sadly, he also makes
it clear that they want to keep it that way. His gripping book
explains how the economic crisis developed and what must be done to
create a fair system, one that will benefit all Americans rather
than just those who are the members of the club."
-- Herbert A. Allen III, President and Chief Executive Officer,
Allen & Company
"The U.S. financial sector is incredibly bloated and a drain on the
productive economy. It uses its enormous economic power to buy
politicians and policies that favor its interests and perpetuates
its power. This is the main argument of Simon Johnson's new book.
The views expressed are especially striking because Johnson is the
former chief economist at the IMF. He has had decades of experience
dealing with financial crises. This often required working with
corrupt governments dominated by powerful financial interests. It
is striking to see Johnson putting the U.S. government in this
category."
-- Dean Baker, Co-Founder and Co-Director of the Center for
Economic and Policy Research
"Johnson and Kwak embed the financial crisis in a sophisticated
analysis of US economic history, explain its evolution with unusual
clarity and propose policy reforms to prevent its ever happening
again that are both straight forward and compelling."
-- C. Fred Bergsten, Director, Peterson Institute for International
Economics
""13 Bankers" is surely the only book about the financial crisis
2007-09 that begins with a quote from "The Great Gatsby." But, the
analogy is appropriate. Johnson and Kwak not only tell us in great
detail how the crisis happened and what we must do to avoid another
crisis, but they see the deeper political and cultural context that
permitted carelessness and excess nearly to break the financial
system and plunge us into a depression."
-- Bill Bradley, former United States Senator
""13 Bankers" is a chilling tale of the dangers of concentrated
economic, intellectual, and political power. Even if you do not
agree with everything the authors have to say, this book makes it
clear why ending "too big to fail" and reforming the institutions
that perpetuate it - particularly the Federal Reserve - are
essential for our nation's future economic prosperity and, more
fundamentally, our democratic system."
-- U.S. Senator Jim Bunning
"This is a timely, informative and important book. You may not
agree with all the analysis but the issues so clearly discussed are
real, current and vitally important. Financial industry reform must
be undertaken soon; inaction, as the authors convincingly argue,
would have dangerous consequences. This book explains it all and
it's great reading."
-- Lawrence K. Fish, former Chairman and Chief Executive Officer,
Citizens Financial Group
"What Simon Johnson is telling us is that we are subjecting
ourselves to rule by a self-perpetuating banking oligarchy. Which
leaves two questions: Are we listening? And if we are, then what
are we going to do about it?"
-- Congressman Alan Grayson
""13 Bankers" is a tour de force. For those many Americans who
believe they have never received an adequate explanation about why
the United States economy crashed in 2008, who is to blame, where
their tax dollars went, and why the villains have thrived while
everyone else has suffered, read this book or be prepared for
history to repeat itself soon."
-- Michael Greenberger, Professor of Law, University of Maryland
School of Law School; Former Director, Trading and Markets
Division, Commodity Futures Trading Commission
"Prescient and powerful, "13 Bankers" provides a battle plan for
the fight to ensure that America's 'too big to fail' megabanks will
no longer be able to hold the global economy hostage while
accumulating record profits, doling out obscene bonuses, and
spending millions of dollars on lobbying to gut financial reform.
Johnson and Kwak demonstrate that what is good for Wall Street is
decidedly not good for Main Street, and present a bracing, and at
times frightening, analysis of how Big Finance has undermined our
political system. Most importantly, they offer specific proposals
for turning things around. Our future depends on fixing our
financial system; "13 Bankers" shows us how."
-- Arianna Huffington
""13 Bankers" is an absolutely brilliant and spellbinding forensic
analysis of Main Street's economic murder at the hands of financial
behemoths who gambled recklessly with the taxpayers' chips while
paying Washington to look the other way. From Jefferson and Jackson
to South Korea and Russia, the book traverses time and space in
documenting that banks that are 'too big to fail' are far too big
to be preserved. The message is clear: bust the financial trusts
and do it now!"
-- Laurence J. Kotlikoff, Professor of Economics, Boston
University, and author of "Jimmy Stewart Is Dead."
""13 Bankers" explains our financial crisis in the context of the
recent experience of other nations and our own history. Our
financial crisis fits a tediously familiar pattern of unrestrained,
vulgar excess followed by collapse. We should heed the lesson that
Simon Johnson and James Kwak draw: the continued concentration of
economic and political power makes future economic crises
inevitable and undermines democracy."
-- Congressman Brad Miller
"As Simon Johnson makes lucidly and compellingly clear, the problem
with Wall Street leads directly to the core problem of our
democracy. American politics now feeds on money, and Wall Street is
where the money is. Unless we separate money from politics, we'll
never be safe from another financial meltdown. In fact, we'll never
really be safe. Read this fine book and get to work."
-- Robert B. Reich, Professor of Public Policy, University of
California at Berkeley, Former U.S. Secretary of Labor
"Over the last 50 years, the FAA, the airline manufacturers, and
the airlines worked together to make a highly complex air travel
system more efficient and much safer. If you've ever wondered why,
in contrast, our financial regulators and banks made our financial
system less efficient and much more dangerous, you should read this
book."
-- Paul Romer, Senior Fellow, Center for International Development,
and Institute for Economic Policy Research, Stanford University
"Johnson and Kwak deftly survey the roots and aftermath of the
financial panic of 2007-2009, daring to ask whether institutions
deemed "too big to fail" are merely a symptom of a Wall Street that
is "too well-connected to fail." Now, as policymakers, we find
ourselves at a crossroads. Will we perpetuate this phenomenon or
will we finally stand up to the barons of high finance? According
to the authors, it is not too late to redraw the lines of
regulation to protect taxpayers, investors, borrowers, and
ultimately the financial system from itself. We in Congress would
be wise to take their advice."
-- Congressman Brad Sherman
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