Griftopia
Bubble Machines, Vampire Squids, and the Long Con That Is Breaking America
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Narrated by:
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Patrick Egan
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By:
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Matt Taibbi
About this listen
The dramatic story behind the most audacious power grab in American history.
The financial crisis that exploded in 2008 isn’t past but prologue. The stunning rise, fall, and rescue of Wall Street in the bubble-and-bailout era was the coming-out party for the network of looters who sit at the nexus of American political and economic power. The grifter class - made up of the largest players in the financial industry and the politicians who do their bidding - has been growing in power for a generation, transferring wealth upward through increasingly complex financial mechanisms and political maneuvers. The crisis was only one terrifying manifestation of how they’ve hijacked America’s political and economic life.
Rolling Stone’s Matt Taibbi here unravels the whole fiendish story, digging beyond the headlines to get into the deeper roots and wider implications of the rise of the grifters. He traces the movement’s origins to the cult of Ayn Rand and her most influential - and possibly weirdest - acolyte, Alan Greenspan, and offers fresh reporting on the backroom deals that decided the winners and losers in the government bailouts. He uncovers the hidden commodities bubble that transferred billions of dollars to Wall Street while creating food shortages around the world, and he shows how finance dominates politics, from the story of investment bankers auctioning off America’s infrastructure to an inside account of the high-stakes battle for health-care reform - a battle the true reformers lost. Finally, he tells the story of Goldman Sachs, the “vampire squid wrapped around the face of humanity".
Taibbi has combined deep sources, trailblazing reportage, and provocative analysis to create the most lucid, emotionally galvanizing, and scathingly funny account yet written of the ongoing political and financial crisis in America. This is essential listening for anyone who wants to understand the labyrinthine inner workings of politics and finance in this country, and the profound consequences for us all.
©2010 Matt Taibbi (P)2010 Random House AudioListeners also enjoyed...
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- How Big Companies Use 'Plain English' to Rob You Blind
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- Narrated by: Todd McLaren
- Length: 12 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
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David Cay Johnston has made a name for himself as the defender of the common man, calling out the rich and powerful for cheating the system at the expense of everyone else. Whether he's exposing unjust loopholes in the tax code that help the rich get richer or pointing out how powerful corporations pocket government subsidies at excessive taxpayer expense, Johnston is an eloquent town crier for justice and equality.
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A must listen if you love or hate Trump
- By Rob D on 04-19-17
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The Alchemists
- Three Central Bankers and a World on Fire
- By: Neil Irwin
- Narrated by: Walter Dixon
- Length: 14 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
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Neil Irwin’s The Alchemists is a gripping account of the most intense exercise in economic crisis management we’ve ever seen, a poker game in which the stakes have run into the trillions of dollars. The book begins in, of all places, Stockholm, Sweden, in the 17th century, where central banking had its rocky birth, and then progresses through a brisk but dazzling tutorial on how the central banker came to exert such vast influence over our world, from its troubled beginnings to the age of Greenspan, bringing the listener into the present with a marvelous handle on how these figures and institutions became what they are.
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Couldn't Listen to this narrator
- By Donald on 07-23-13
By: Neil Irwin
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A First-Class Catastrophe
- The Road to Black Monday, the Worst Day in Wall Street History
- By: Diana B. Henriques
- Narrated by: Gabra Zackman
- Length: 9 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
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Monday, October 19, 1987, was by far the worst day in Wall Street history. The market fell 22.6% - almost twice as bad as the worst day of 1929 - equal to a one-day loss of nearly 5,000 points today. Black Monday was more than seven years in the making and threatened nearly every US financial institution. Drawing on superlative archival research and dozens of original interviews, Diana B. Henriques weaves a tale of missed opportunities, market delusions, and destructive actions.
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Financial History Rhymes
- By David Larson on 10-07-17
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Fool's Gold
- By: Gillian Tett
- Narrated by: Stephen Hoye
- Length: 10 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
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Gillian Tett brings to life in gripping detail how the Morgan team's bold ideas for a whole new kind of financial alchemy helped to ignite a revolution in banking, and how that revolution escalated wildly out of control. The deeply reported and lively narrative takes readers behind the scenes, to the inner sanctums of elite finance and to the secretive reaches of what came to be known as the "shadow banking" world.
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Outstanding narrative about the financial crisis
- By D. Littman on 07-17-09
By: Gillian Tett
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Tap Dancing to Work
- Warren Buffett on Practically Everything, 1966–2012: A Fortune Magazine Book
- By: Carol J. Loomis
- Narrated by: Susan Boyce, Barry Press
- Length: 17 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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When Carol Loomis first mentioned a little-known Omaha hedge-fund manager in a 1966 Fortune article, she didn’t dream that Warren Buffett would one day be considered the world’s greatest investor - nor that she and Buffett would become close personal friends. Now Loomis has collected and updated the best Buffett articles Fortune published between 1966 and 2012, including thirteen cover stories and a dozen pieces authored by Buffett himself. Loomis has provided commentary about each major article that supplies context and her own informed point of view.
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A collection of finance articles - not a biography
- By Gerardo A Dada on 08-23-13
By: Carol J. Loomis
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Naked Money
- A Revealing Look at What It Is and Why It Matters
- By: Charles Wheelan
- Narrated by: Jonathan Davis
- Length: 13 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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Consider the $20 bill. It has no more value, as a simple slip of paper, than Monopoly money. Yet even children recognize that tearing one into small pieces is an act of inconceivable stupidity. What makes a $20 bill actually worth $20? In the third volume of his best-selling Naked series, Charles Wheelan uses this seemingly simple question to open the door to the surprisingly colorful world of money and banking.
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This is a beautiful audiobook, and well-narrated.
- By Thirsty Mind on 11-10-18
By: Charles Wheelan
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Third World America
- How Our Politicians Are Abandoning the Middle Class and Betraying the American Dream
- By: Arianna Huffington
- Narrated by: Coleen Marlo
- Length: 6 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
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America's middle class, the driver of so much of our economic success and political stability, is rapidly disappearing, forcing us to confront the fear that we are slipping as a nation - that our children and grandchildren will enjoy fewer opportunities and face a lower standard of living than we did. It's the dark flipside of the American Dream - an American Nightmare of our own making.
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Sad... but with a ray of hope
- By Maciej on 10-20-10
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King of Capital
- The Remarkable Rise, Fall, and Rise Again of Steve Schwarzman and Blackstone
- By: John E. Morris, David Carey
- Narrated by: George K. Wilson
- Length: 14 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
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The financial establishment---banks and investment bankers, such as Citigroup, Bear Stearns, Lehman, UBS, Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch, and Morgan Stanley---were the cowboys, recklessly assuming risks, leveraging up to astronomical levels, and driving the economy to the brink of disaster.
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Great Story Ruined by Monotone Reading
- By Marc on 04-23-13
By: John E. Morris, and others
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Who Stole My Pension?
- How You Can Stop the Looting
- By: Robert T. Kiyosaki, Edward Siedle
- Narrated by: Tom Parks
- Length: 9 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
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It’s estimated that there are over 50 million pensioners - in the United States alone. Like the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan, Italy, Germany and many other countries around the world are all in big trouble when it comes to the solvency of their pension funds. Who Stole My Pension? was written to give them guidance, resources, and tools so they can take action...and stop the looting.
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Very Eye Opening
- By Matt on 01-12-22
By: Robert T. Kiyosaki, and others
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In The War on the West, Douglas Murray shows how many well-meaning people have been fooled by hypocritical and inconsistent anti-West rhetoric. After all, if we must discard the ideas of Kant, Hume, and Mill for their opinions on race, shouldn’t we discard Marx, whose work is peppered with racial slurs and anti-Semitism? Embers of racism remain to be stamped out in America, but what about the raging racist inferno in the Middle East and Asia?
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What listeners say about Griftopia
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall
- Ian
- 11-19-10
Matt is Angry
I've read some Taibbi - and he's a frustrating read. For example, the reviews above this are *both* correct The best thing about Griftopia is also the worst: Matt is now so entrenched among the "common person," he has lost perspective of where we are as readers. Taibbi does a great job of decoding some bank "definitions" and moves. And at the same time, Matt is close to Lewis Black inasmuch as his opinions come through in ways where I ask: MATT, next book, just write from the gut, and make the issue your OWN. In other words, Taibbi has strong and ultimately interesting - but he is slippery where fact meets opinion. What a relief from the glut if taking the banking establishment too seriously. Is he right about Ayn Rand and objectivism? He made me think - which is what one gets in only the best of books. MOST EXCELLENT: he reads it.
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12 people found this helpful
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- Gregory D. Oxley
- 08-18-12
A Must Listen for Anyone
If you could sum up Griftopia in three words, what would they be?
Educational, alarming, excellent
What was the most compelling aspect of this narrative?
The most compelling aspect of this book is that Matt actually educates even the most ignorant of people like me on the current condition of America.
If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?
Corporations Enslave
Any additional comments?
Get Informed. Listen to this book.
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- Stephen
- 06-15-13
Great expose of the corruption in business world.
What was one of the most memorable moments of Griftopia?
The whole story. I enjoyed how Matt just tells the story no holds barred.
Any additional comments?
Wish that the average man on the street could read this book and then do something to change the system.
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- Logan
- 03-31-21
Even 11 years on Griftopia still shocks the senses
This book should be absolutely required reading/listening for every single American. It should be in every high school curriculum.
I'm pretty well informed about the events leading up to, and the subsequent fallout of, the financial shenanigans that led to the Great Recession, but I had never read Taibbi's book until now. Even knowing so much about those events, I was still shocked and blown away by a huge amount of the info in this book.
You may think you know the relevant facts of those dark days, but in order to truly understand the darkest days of the failing US empire as we are experiencing them today, you MUST read/listen to Griftopia.
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- Johnathan Hommel
- 08-11-22
A must read
A must read on the American experiment and the level of gift we allow in our society. Corruption is thy name and good governance is gone
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- debbie
- 05-30-11
great read
Enjoyed this book very much, made what could have been dull into an interesting and insightful experience.
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1 person found this helpful
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- James
- 05-28-15
No pulled punches
I've read many books about the financial collapse. This one was by far the most entertaining-perhaps because it didn't hold onto some sort of reverence for the financial elite while discussing the topic.
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- R. Scanlan
- 05-05-16
Disturbing, unsettling and eye opening.
Very entertaining and even funny at times but scary as hell. If what Mr. Tabbai purports is true, the United States as we "know" it is already dead.
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- John
- 07-21-11
Amazing but scary
One of the best books dealing with the financial meltdown. If this book doesn't shake you up, nothing will. The only reason these crooks haven't been indicted is because once you started arresting people you wouldn't know when to stop. This is a perfect illustration of Obama's dilemma, keep your friends close and keep your enemies closer.
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- Justin A. Adams
- 11-19-19
very interesting!
I knew about a lot of these issues coming in, but never explained in such an easy to understand way. Also explains how all of it is connected. Excellent writer! Narrator is good as well.
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