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On the Brink
- Inside the Race to Stop the Collapse of the Global Financial System
- Narrated by: Dan Woren
- Length: 15 hrs and 4 mins
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Publisher's summary
When Hank Paulson, the former CEO of Goldman Sachs, was appointed in 2006 to become the nation's next Secretary of the Treasury, he knew that his move from Wall Street to Washington would be daunting and challenging.
But Paulson had no idea that a year later, he would find himself at the very epicenter of the world's most cataclysmic financial crisis since the Great Depression. Major institutions including Bear Stearns, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Lehman Brothers, AIG, Merrill Lynch, and Citigroup, among others - all steeped in rich, longstanding tradition - literally teetered at the edge of collapse. Panic ensnared international markets. Worst of all, the credit crisis spread to all parts of the U.S. economy and grew more ominous with each passing day, destroying jobs across America and undermining the financial security millions of families had spent their lifetimes building.
This was truly a once-in-a-lifetime economic nightmare. Events no one had thought possible were happening in quick succession, and people all over the globe were terrified that the continuing downward spiral would bring unprecedented chaos. All eyes turned to the United States Treasury Secretary to avert the disaster.
This, then, is Hank Paulson's first-person account. From the man who was in the very middle of this perfect economic storm, On the Brink is Paulson's fast-paced retelling of the key decisions that had to be made with lightning speed.
More than an account about numbers and credit risks gone bad, On the Brink is an extraordinary story about people and politics - all brought together during the world's impending financial Armageddon.
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Story
During the most dizzying days of the financial crisis, Washington Mutual, a bank with hundreds of billions of dollars in its coffers, suffered a crippling bank run. The story of its final, brutal collapse in the autumn of 2008, and its controversial sale to JPMorgan Chase, is an astonishing account of how one bank lost itself to greed and mismanagement, and how the entire financial industry - and even the entire country - lost its way as well. Kirsten Grind’s The Lost Bank is a magisterial and gripping account of these events.
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Sad and Angry by Turn
- By Johnnie Walker on 07-24-12
By: Kirsten Grind
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Borrowed Time
- Two Centuries of Booms, Busts, and Bailouts at Citi
- By: James Freeman, Vern McKinley
- Narrated by: Fred Sanders
- Length: 11 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
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To save the economy and keep Citi afloat in 2008, the government provided huge infusions of cash through multiple bailouts that frustrated and angered the American public. But, as Wall Street Journal writer James Freeman and financial expert Vern McKinley reveal, the 2008 crisis was just one of many disasters Citi has experienced since its founding more than 200 years ago. In Borrowed Time they reveal Citi’s disturbing history of instability and government support. It’s a story that neither Citi nor Washington wants told.
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Biased
- By CF on 08-09-19
By: James Freeman, and others
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A History of the United States in Five Crashes
- Stock Market Meltdowns That Defined a Nation
- By: Scott Nations
- Narrated by: Christopher Grove
- Length: 12 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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In this absorbing, smart, and accessible blend of economic and cultural history in the vein of the works of Michael Lewis and Andrew Ross Sorkin, a financial executive and CNBC contributor examines the five most significant stock market crashes in the United States over the past century, revealing how they have defined the nation today.
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A solid telling of crucial history
- By Philo on 06-17-17
By: Scott Nations
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Bought and Paid For
- The Unholy Alliance Between Barack Obama and Wall Street
- By: Charles Gasparino
- Narrated by: Lloyd James
- Length: 9 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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According to business reporter Charles Gasparino, President Obama is faking his outrage at Wall Street, and his calls for new policies to rein in banks that are "too big to fail" are just pabulum. In reality, Obama has climbed into bed with Wall Street CEOs, giving them what they want so they will support his liberal, big-government agenda.
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Revealing and Convincing
- By Walter on 10-24-11
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The House of Dimon
- How JP Morgan's Jamie Dimon Rose to the Top of the Financial World
- By: Patricia Crisafulli
- Narrated by: Suzanne Toren
- Length: 9 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
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Jamie Dimon is Wall Street's biggest player. Following the 11h-hour rescue of Bear Stearns by JPMorgan, his profile has reached stratospheric levels. And while the deals and decisions he's made have usually turned out to be the right ones, his journey to the top of the financial world has been anything but easy. Now, in The House of Dimon, business writer Patricia Crisafulli goes behind the scenes to recount the amazing events that have shaped Dimon's career.
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Intriguing
- By Jean on 08-28-16
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Good for the Money
- My Fight to Pay Back America
- By: Bob Benmosche
- Narrated by: Sean Pratt
- Length: 9 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
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In 2009, at the peak of the financial crisis, AIG - the American insurance behemoth - was sinking fast. It was the peg upon which the nation hung its ire and resentment during the financial crisis: the pinnacle of Wall Street arrogance and greed. When Bob Benmosche climbed aboard as CEO, it was widely assumed that he would go down with his ship. In mere months, he turned things around, pulling AIG from the brink of financial collapse and restoring its profitability.
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Worthwhile, informative, and just short of inspiring
- By Preston on 11-17-21
By: Bob Benmosche
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Act of Congress
- How America's Essential Institution Works, and How It Doesn't
- By: Robert G. Kaiser
- Narrated by: Matthew Josdal
- Length: 19 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
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An eye-opening account of how Congress today really works - and doesn’t - that follows the dramatic journey of the sweeping financial reform bill enacted in response to the Great Crash of 2008. The founding fathers expected Congress to be the most important branch of government and gave it the most power. When Congress is broken - as its justifiably dismal approval ratings suggest - so is our democracy.
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insightful, and eye opening.
- By A&K Schneider on 10-21-17
By: Robert G. Kaiser
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Reckless Endangerment
- How Outsized Ambition, Greed, and Corruption Led to Economic Armageddon
- By: Gretchen Morgenson, Joshua Rosner
- Narrated by: L. J. Ganser
- Length: 11 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
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In Reckless Endangerment, Gretchen Morgenson, the star business columnist of The New York Times, exposes how the watchdogs who were supposed to protect the country from financial harm were actually complicit in the actions that finally blew up the American economy.
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Required reading
- By David on 10-24-11
By: Gretchen Morgenson, and others
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Shaky Ground
- The Strange Saga of the US Mortgage Giants
- By: Bethany McLean
- Narrated by: Gabra Zackman
- Length: 3 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
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In 2008 the US Treasury put Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac into a life-support state known as "conservatorship" to prevent their failure - and worldwide economic chaos. The two companies, which were always controversial, have become a battleground. Today, Fannie and Freddie are profitable again but still in conservatorship. Their profits are being redirected toward reducing the federal deficit, which leaves them with no buffer should they suffer losses again.
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Details on the Culture and History of the GSEs
- By Jose on 10-15-15
By: Bethany McLean
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The Great American Stick Up
- Greedy Bankers and the Politicians Who Love Them
- By: Robert Scheer
- Narrated by: Christian Rummel
- Length: 6 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
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Instead of going where other journalists have gone in search of this story - the board rooms and trading floors of the big Wall Street firms - Scheer goes back to Washington, D.C., a veritable crime scene, beginning in the 1980s, where the captains of the finance industry, their lobbyists and allies among leading politicians destroyed an American regulatory system that had been functioning effectively since the era of the New Deal.
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A great telling of an unfortunate part of history
- By Trace on 10-27-20
By: Robert Scheer
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When Genius Failed
- The Rise and Fall of Long-Term Capital Management
- By: Roger Lowenstein
- Narrated by: Roger Lowenstein
- Length: 9 hrs and 12 mins
- Abridged
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Roger Lowenstein, the bestselling author of Buffett, captures Long-Term's roller-coaster ride in gripping detail. Drawing on confidential internal memos and interviews with dozens of key players, Lowenstein crafts a story that reads like a first-rate thriller from beginning to end. He explains not just how the fund made and lost its money, but what it was about the personalities of Long-Term's partners, the arrogance of their mathematical certainties, and the late-nineties culture of Wall Street that made it all possible.
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When Genius Failed
- By Sean on 12-17-08
By: Roger Lowenstein
What listeners say about On the Brink
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Josh
- 05-10-10
best book i have listened to
If you are interested in economics (and I am), this is a great book. In depth, but still easy to understand. This is the first 5 star review (in 20 or so books) I have given. Really great book!
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- Muisc Man RS
- 09-01-11
Firsthand insight on the 2007-08 financial debace
For those wanting to round out their understanding of the finacial abyss we faced in 2007-08, this book is an excellent addition to The Big Short and Too Big Too Fail. The other two drew me into the events in more riviting narratives. I recomend reading them first. But Paulson was in the middle of things; this book completes the story. I was not a big fan of Paulson before this book. I now understand and appreciate why he, Bernanke, and Geithner did what they had to do. His suggestions for fixing the system are too mportant to miss. Unfortunately, special interests and their lobbyists will never let those corrections go forward.
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2 people found this helpful
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- Moos1212
- 01-11-17
A must listen
Must listen if you want to learn more about the financial crisis. Performance was generally ok but I found the imitation of accents and voices of other people annoying!
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- Theo Tsourdalakis
- 02-18-16
INTERESTING - BUT IS IT A WHITE WASH?
It was interesting and easy to listen to.
It shed light on some parts of the Financial Crisis but overall it was unfulfilling in that it did not identify the cause of the root cause or the culprits. Paulson rosy picture of how most people acted with ulterior motives for the good of the country sounds hollow and jingoistic.
Paulson assertion that AIG and others had to be bailed out to save "main street" is never substantiated and is hard to believe. Many have credibly argued that the bail out was of Wall street (the perpetrators of the problem) at huge cost to the tax payer.
Largely because of the Financial Crisis, the Federal debt has recently hit $19Trillion
- THIS IS A MINDBLOWING BIG NUMBER.
As soon as an American is born he is immediately in debt to the tune of about $58,000.
America is on the same road as Greece; Greece is just a little ahead.
The book was written in 2009 - it would interesting to know if Paulson has any additional thought now.
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Overall
- Christine A. Haimann
- 12-12-10
Great book for a layman to understand
Loved this book, was well written and really suspsenseful as you lived through the ongoing crises with them. Financial terms explained so a layman could understand and this book is unbaised and does not go about bashing people to lay blame but simply states the facts of what happened. Overall the book is very readable and considering the subject matter, finance, is really engaging as they lurch from one crisis to the next one. Highly recommend!
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2 people found this helpful
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- Steve
- 07-28-15
great book, what was going on behind the scenes
Best book on crisis that I've read, next to Sorkin's. Really enjoyed getting a first-hand view of the events that I remember all too well. I was glued to my Bloomberg terminal and the news during this period...this book is a fascinating look at what was going on behind the scenes that I never saw or heard. Genuinely new insights and stories, not just a rehash of public events, as are so many other books about the financial crisis. Highly recommend.
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- Randy
- 07-15-12
Excellent insidie look
Excellent inside look into the man that helped save this country from the brink of financial disaster.
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- Tom
- 07-07-10
Solidly written viewpoint of US Treasury
Will-written, a great counterpoint to Sorkin's To Big To Fail.
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- Yuri
- 07-11-15
Amazing but requires to read between the lines
If you could sum up On the Brink in three words, what would they be?
They don't care about us
Who was your favorite character and why?
Strange question for such book, but I really come to like the author - he looks like a really honest man with high moral standards. He tells the truth - at least as he sees it. However, it is clear that in the current system bankers should decide who they want to save - the poor and middle class or the banks and the rich (from over the world). And it is no wonder they choose to save the banks and the reach at the expense of the poor, without really considering any other options.
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- Amazon Customer
- 09-14-18
Fantastic Narrative of the Financial Crisis
Paulson brings the reader into room and explains the thinking of US policymakers tasked with preserving the global economy during the Financial Crisis.
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