The Payoff - Why Wall Street Always Wins

by Guest Wed Sep 19, 2012 7:33 pm

Here's a review of the above book - seems like a must read.

There are some damning revelations in this book, and overall it’s not
a flattering portrait of key Obama administration officials like SEC
enforcement chief Robert Khuzami, Department of Justice honchos Eric
Holder (who once worked at the same law firm, Covington and Burling, as
Connaughton) and Lanny Breuer, and Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner.

Most damningly, Connaughton writes about something he calls "The
Blob," a kind of catchall term describing an oozy pile of Hill insiders
who are all incestuously interconnected, sometimes by financial or
political ties, sometimes by marriage, sometimes by all three. And what
Connaughton and Kaufman found is that taking on Wall Street even with
the aim of imposing simple, logical fixes often inspired immediate
hostile responses from The Blob; you’d never know where it was coming
from.

Read more: http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/blogs/taibblog/a-rare-look-at-why-the-government-wont-fight-wall-street-20120918#ixzz26xgA0gTS

by Idéfix Wed Sep 19, 2012 7:52 pm

I just watched the first three parts of the Frontline series you recommended: Money, Power and Wall Street. They did an excellent job identifying the issues and telling the story. Part 3 was the best so far, capturing how Obama tried to play a balancing act and failed. That episode, along with the Frontline program on how the healthcare reform bill was steered through passage, makes up a really good summary of Obama's presidency so far.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/money-power-wall-street/

I am looking forward to watching part 4.

by Guest Wed Sep 19, 2012 10:45 pm

Ah, glad you are enjoying it. I though it was a very well made, comprehensive account of things that went so terribly wrong.

I am currently reading "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis. His first book "Liar's poker" describes his time at Saloman brothers back in the 80s. He quit after 3 years and turned a writer.

I like his talks and this book is very enjoyable and educational but I just saw this slavish article by him on Obama a couple of days ago and that has put me off a bit. Seems a bit too fawning.

http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/2012/10/michael-lewis-profile-barack-obama

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The Payoff - Why Wall Street Always Wins

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