Why Wall Street Matters
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Buy for $13.50
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Rob Shapiro
-
By:
-
William D. Cohan
About this listen
A timely, counterintuitive defense of Wall Street and the big banks as the invisible - albeit flawed - engines that power our ideas and should be made to work better for all of us.
Maybe you think the banks should be broken up and the bankers should be held accountable for the financial crisis in 2008. Maybe you hate the greed of Wall Street but know that it's important to the proper functioning of the world economy. Maybe you don't really understand Wall Street, and phrases such as credit default swap make your eyes glaze over. Maybe you are utterly confused by the fact that after attacking Wall Street mercilessly during his campaign, Donald Trump has surrounded himself with Wall Street veterans. But if you like your smartphone or your widescreen TV, your car or your morning bacon, your pension or your 401(k), then - whether you know it or not - you are a fan of Wall Street.
William D. Cohan is no knee-jerk advocate for Wall Street and the big banks. He's one of America's most respected financial journalists and the progressive best-selling author of House of Cards. He has long been critical of the bad behavior that plagued much of Wall Street in the years leading up to the 2008 financial crisis, and because he spent 17 years as an investment banker on Wall Street, he is an expert on its inner workings as well.
But in recent years he's become alarmed by the cheap shots and ceaseless vitriol directed at Wall Street's bankers, traders, and executives - the people whose job it is to provide capital to those who need it, the grease that keeps our economy humming. In this brisk, no-nonsense narrative, Cohan reminds us of the good these institutions do - and the dire consequences for us all if the essential role they play in making our lives better is carelessly curtailed.
©2017 William D. Cohan (P)2017 Random House AudioListeners also enjoyed...
-
Going Infinite
- The Rise and Fall of a New Tycoon
- By: Michael Lewis
- Narrated by: Michael Lewis
- Length: 9 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Michael Lewis first met him, Sam Bankman-Fried was the world’s youngest billionaire and crypto’s Gatsby. CEOs, celebrities, and leaders of small countries all vied for his time and cash after he catapulted, practically overnight, onto the Forbes billionaire list. Who was this rumpled guy in cargo shorts and limp white socks, whose eyes twitched across Zoom meetings as he played video games on the side?
-
-
really expected more rigor from Michael Lewis
- By Wowhello on 10-04-23
By: Michael Lewis
-
Money and Power
- How Goldman Sachs Came to Rule the World
- By: William D. Cohan
- Narrated by: Rob Shapiro
- Length: 30 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the best-selling, prize-winning author of The Last Tycoons and House of Cards, a revelatory history of Goldman Sachs, the most dominant, feared, and controversial investment bank in the world. William D. Cohan has constructed a vivid narrative that looks behind the veil of secrecy to reveal how Goldman has become so profitable - and so powerful.
-
-
Much better than expected
- By Mark on 06-15-11
By: William D. Cohan
-
Power Failure
- The Rise and Fall of an American Icon
- By: William D. Cohan
- Narrated by: Eric Jason Martin
- Length: 28 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
No company embodied American ingenuity, innovation, and industrial power more spectacularly and more consistently than the General Electric Company. GE once developed and manufactured many of the inventions we take for granted today, nearly everything from the lightbulb to the jet engine. GE also built a cult of financial and leadership success envied across the globe and became the world’s most valuable and most admired company. But even at the height of its prestige and influence, cracks were forming in its formidable foundation.
-
-
Much better than other GE books
- By Brannon Crawford on 12-26-22
By: William D. Cohan
-
The Last Tycoons
- The Secret History of Lazard Freres & Co.
- By: William D. Cohan
- Narrated by: Robertson Dean
- Length: 32 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Discretion, secrecy, and subtle strategy were the weapons of choice at Wall Street investment bank Lazard Frères & Co. For more than a century, the mystique and reputation of the "Great Men" who worked there allowed the firm to garner unimaginable profits, social cachet, and outsized influence in the halls of power. But in the mid-1980s, their titanic egos started getting in the way, and the Great Men of Lazard jeopardized all they had built.
-
-
Good stuff
- By Mr. M Metwally on 09-07-07
By: William D. Cohan
-
The Fund
- Ray Dalio, Bridgewater Associates, and the Unraveling of a Wall Street Legend
- By: Rob Copeland
- Narrated by: Rob Copeland, Will Damron
- Length: 12 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ray Dalio does not want you to listen to this audiobook. Late last year, when the billionaire founder of Bridgewater Associates, the largest hedge fund on the planet, announced that he was stepping down from the company he started out of his apartment nearly 50 years ago, the news made headlines around the world. Dalio cultivated an aura of international admiration and fame thanks to his company’s eye-popping success, coupled with a mystique he encouraged with frequent media appearances, celebrity hobnobbing, and his bestselling book, Principles.
-
-
Best finance book I've read in years
- By Aaron on 12-16-23
By: Rob Copeland
-
Same as Ever
- A Guide to What Never Changes
- By: Morgan Housel
- Narrated by: Chris Hill
- Length: 5 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Every investment plan under the sun is, at best, an informed speculation of what may happen in the future, based on a systematic extrapolation from the known past. Same as Ever reverses the process, inviting us to identify the many things that never, ever change. With his usual elan, Morgan Housel presents a master class on optimizing risk, seizing opportunity, and living your best life. Through a sequence of engaging stories and pithy examples, he shows how we can use our newfound grasp of the unchanging to see around corners.
-
-
Beautifully Succinct Summary of Others Original Ideas
- By Mitch on 11-09-23
By: Morgan Housel
-
Going Infinite
- The Rise and Fall of a New Tycoon
- By: Michael Lewis
- Narrated by: Michael Lewis
- Length: 9 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Michael Lewis first met him, Sam Bankman-Fried was the world’s youngest billionaire and crypto’s Gatsby. CEOs, celebrities, and leaders of small countries all vied for his time and cash after he catapulted, practically overnight, onto the Forbes billionaire list. Who was this rumpled guy in cargo shorts and limp white socks, whose eyes twitched across Zoom meetings as he played video games on the side?
-
-
really expected more rigor from Michael Lewis
- By Wowhello on 10-04-23
By: Michael Lewis
-
Money and Power
- How Goldman Sachs Came to Rule the World
- By: William D. Cohan
- Narrated by: Rob Shapiro
- Length: 30 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the best-selling, prize-winning author of The Last Tycoons and House of Cards, a revelatory history of Goldman Sachs, the most dominant, feared, and controversial investment bank in the world. William D. Cohan has constructed a vivid narrative that looks behind the veil of secrecy to reveal how Goldman has become so profitable - and so powerful.
-
-
Much better than expected
- By Mark on 06-15-11
By: William D. Cohan
-
Power Failure
- The Rise and Fall of an American Icon
- By: William D. Cohan
- Narrated by: Eric Jason Martin
- Length: 28 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
No company embodied American ingenuity, innovation, and industrial power more spectacularly and more consistently than the General Electric Company. GE once developed and manufactured many of the inventions we take for granted today, nearly everything from the lightbulb to the jet engine. GE also built a cult of financial and leadership success envied across the globe and became the world’s most valuable and most admired company. But even at the height of its prestige and influence, cracks were forming in its formidable foundation.
-
-
Much better than other GE books
- By Brannon Crawford on 12-26-22
By: William D. Cohan
-
The Last Tycoons
- The Secret History of Lazard Freres & Co.
- By: William D. Cohan
- Narrated by: Robertson Dean
- Length: 32 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Discretion, secrecy, and subtle strategy were the weapons of choice at Wall Street investment bank Lazard Frères & Co. For more than a century, the mystique and reputation of the "Great Men" who worked there allowed the firm to garner unimaginable profits, social cachet, and outsized influence in the halls of power. But in the mid-1980s, their titanic egos started getting in the way, and the Great Men of Lazard jeopardized all they had built.
-
-
Good stuff
- By Mr. M Metwally on 09-07-07
By: William D. Cohan
-
The Fund
- Ray Dalio, Bridgewater Associates, and the Unraveling of a Wall Street Legend
- By: Rob Copeland
- Narrated by: Rob Copeland, Will Damron
- Length: 12 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ray Dalio does not want you to listen to this audiobook. Late last year, when the billionaire founder of Bridgewater Associates, the largest hedge fund on the planet, announced that he was stepping down from the company he started out of his apartment nearly 50 years ago, the news made headlines around the world. Dalio cultivated an aura of international admiration and fame thanks to his company’s eye-popping success, coupled with a mystique he encouraged with frequent media appearances, celebrity hobnobbing, and his bestselling book, Principles.
-
-
Best finance book I've read in years
- By Aaron on 12-16-23
By: Rob Copeland
-
Same as Ever
- A Guide to What Never Changes
- By: Morgan Housel
- Narrated by: Chris Hill
- Length: 5 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Every investment plan under the sun is, at best, an informed speculation of what may happen in the future, based on a systematic extrapolation from the known past. Same as Ever reverses the process, inviting us to identify the many things that never, ever change. With his usual elan, Morgan Housel presents a master class on optimizing risk, seizing opportunity, and living your best life. Through a sequence of engaging stories and pithy examples, he shows how we can use our newfound grasp of the unchanging to see around corners.
-
-
Beautifully Succinct Summary of Others Original Ideas
- By Mitch on 11-09-23
By: Morgan Housel
-
Chip War
- The Quest to Dominate the World's Most Critical Technology
- By: Chris Miller
- Narrated by: Stephen Graybill
- Length: 12 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
You may be surprised to learn that microchips are the new oil—the scarce resource on which the modern world depends. Today, military, economic, and geopolitical power are built on a foundation of computer chips. Virtually everything—from missiles to microwaves—runs on chips, including cars, smartphones, the stock market, even the electric grid. Until recently, America designed and built the fastest chips and maintained its lead as the #1 superpower, but America’s edge is in danger of slipping, undermined by players in Taiwan, Korea, and Europe taking over manufacturing.
-
-
Great history, but could poor narration
- By Lily Wong on 10-26-22
By: Chris Miller
-
The Dawn of Everything
- A New History of Humanity
- By: David Graeber, David Wengrow
- Narrated by: Mark Williams
- Length: 24 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A trailblazing account of human history, challenging our most fundamental assumptions about social evolution—from the development of agriculture and cities to the emergence of "the state", political violence, and social inequality—and revealing new possibilities for human emancipation.
-
-
exactly what I've been looking for
- By DankTurtle on 11-10-21
By: David Graeber, and others
-
The World for Sale
- Money, Power and the Traders Who Barter the Earth’s Resources
- By: Javier Blas, Jack Farchy
- Narrated by: John Sackville
- Length: 12 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In The World for Sale, two leading journalists lift the lid on one of the least scrutinised corners of the economy: the workings of the billionaire commodity traders who buy, hoard and sell the earth's resources. It is the story of how a handful of swashbuckling businessmen became indispensable cogs in global markets: enabling an enormous expansion in international trade and connecting resource-rich countries - no matter how corrupt or war-torn - with the world's financial centres.
-
-
Explains a lot!
- By jaga on 03-24-21
By: Javier Blas, and others
-
Freezing Order
- A True Story of Russian Money Laundering, State-Sponsored Murder, and Surviving Vladimir Putin's Wrath
- By: Bill Browder
- Narrated by: Adam Grupper
- Length: 10 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Browder’s young Russian lawyer, Sergei Magnitsky, was beaten to death in a Moscow jail in 2009, Browder cast aside his business career and made it his life’s mission to pursue justice for Sergei. One of the first steps of that mission was to uncover who had killed Sergei and profited from the $230 million corruption scheme that he had exposed. As Browder and his team tracked the money that flowed out of Russia—through the Baltics and Cyprus and on to Western Europe and the Americas—they discovered that Vladimir Putin himself was one of the beneficiaries of the crime.
-
-
Red Notice Part II —- The Empire Struck Out
- By R. Alembik on 04-16-22
By: Bill Browder
-
All the Devils Are Here
- The Hidden History of the Financial Crisis
- By: Bethany McLean, Joe Nocera
- Narrated by: Dennis Boutsikaris
- Length: 15 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As soon as the financial crisis erupted, the finger-pointing began. Should the blame fall on Wall Street, Main Street, or Pennsylvania Avenue? On greedy traders, misguided regulators, sleazy subprime companies, cowardly legislators, or clueless home buyers? According to Bethany McLean and Joe Nocera, two of America's most acclaimed business journalists, the real answer is all of the above-and more. Many devils helped bring hell to the economy.
-
-
Excellent!
- By Euri on 11-19-10
By: Bethany McLean, and others
-
House of Cards
- A Tale of Hubris and Wretched Excess on Wall Street
- By: William Cohan
- Narrated by: Alan Sklar
- Length: 25 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In March 2008, Bear Stearns, a swashbuckling 84-year-old financial institution, was forced to sell itself to JPMorgan Chase for an outrageously low price in a deal brokered by Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, who was desperately trying to prevent the impending catastrophic market crash. But mere months before, an industry-wide boom had "the Bear" clocking a record high stock price. How did a giant investment bank with $18 billion in cash on hand disappear in a mere 10 days?
-
-
Riveting "Read" About Credit Crisis
- By Thomas on 04-25-09
By: William Cohan
-
Predator Nation
- Corporate Criminals, Political Corruption, and the Hijacking of America
- By: Charles H. Ferguson
- Narrated by: Rob Shapiro
- Length: 13 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Charles H. Ferguson, who electrified the world with his Oscar-winning documentary Inside Job, now explains how a predator elite took over the country, step by step, and he exposes the networks of academic, financial, and political influence, in all recent administrations, that prepared the predators' path to conquest. Over the last several decades, the United States has undergone one of the most radical social and economic transformations in its history.
-
-
J'accuse!!!
- By Nelson Alexander on 07-25-12
-
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
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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.
-
-
When Genius Failed
- By Sean on 12-17-08
By: Roger Lowenstein
-
Warren Buffett and the Interpretation of Financial Statements
- The Search for the Company with a Durable Competitive Advantage
- By: Mary Buffett, David Clark
- Narrated by: Karen White
- Length: 3 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Mary Buffett and David Clark clearly outline Warren Buffett's strategies in a way that will appeal to newcomers and seasoned Buffettologists alike. Inspired by the seminal work of Buffett's mentor, Benjamin Graham ( The Interpretation of Financial Statements, 1937), this book presents Buffett's interpretation of financial statements with anecdotes and quotes from the master investor himself.
-
-
Skip to chapter 12
- By Claude on 07-01-18
By: Mary Buffett, and others
-
21st Century Monetary Policy
- The Federal Reserve from the Great Inflation to COVID-19
- By: Ben S. Bernanke
- Narrated by: George Guidall
- Length: 16 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A former chair of the Federal Reserve explains the transformation of one our most powerful and consequential institutions.
-
-
don't buy, horrible narration
- By Mr. Incognito on 05-18-22
By: Ben S. Bernanke
-
Barbarians at the Gate
- The Fall of RJR Nabisco
- By: Bryan Burrough, John Helyar
- Narrated by: Eric Jason Martin
- Length: 22 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A number-one New York Times best seller and arguably the best business narrative ever written, Barbarians at the Gate is the classic account of the fall of RJR Nabisco. An enduring masterpiece of investigative journalism by Bryan Burrough and John Helyar, it includes a new afterword by the authors that brings this remarkable story of greed and double-dealings up to date 20 years after the famed deal.
-
-
Good book but too dense
- By Andrew M. on 08-01-21
By: Bryan Burrough, and others
-
Unscripted
- The Epic Battle for a Media Empire and the Redstone Family Legacy
- By: James B. Stewart, Rachel Abrams
- Narrated by: Robert Petkoff
- Length: 12 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 2016, the fate of Paramount Global’s entertainment empire hung precariously in the balance. Its founder and head, ninety-three-year-old Sumner M. Redstone, was facing a very public lawsuit brought by a former romantic companion, Manuela Herzer, which placed Sumner’s deteriorating health and questionable judgment under a harsh light.
-
-
I could t wait for it to end
- By Abbie L. Smith on 03-01-23
By: James B. Stewart, and others
Critic reviews
Related to this topic
-
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
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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.
-
-
Biased
- By CF on 08-09-19
By: James Freeman, and others
-
Wall Street
- A History, Updated Edition
- By: Charles R. Geisst
- Narrated by: Stephen McLaughlin
- Length: 27 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Wall Street is an unending source of legend - and nightmares. It is a universal symbol of both the highest aspirations of economic prosperity and the basest impulses of greed and deception. Charles R. Geisst's Wall Street is at once a chronicle of the street itself - from the days when the wall was merely a defensive barricade built by Peter Stuyvesant - and an engaging economic history of the United States, a tale of profits and losses, enterprising spirits, and key figures that transformed America into the most powerful economy in the world.
-
-
Many books in one; best linking of stories, eras
- By Philo on 03-23-14
-
13 Bankers
- The Wall Street Takeover and the Next Financial Meltdown
- By: Simon Johnson, James Kwak
- Narrated by: Erik Synnestvedt
- Length: 8 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Even after the ruinous financial crisis of 2008, America is still beset by the depredations of an oligarchy that is now bigger, more profitable, and more resistant to regulation than ever. Anchored by six megabanks, which together control assets amounting to more than 60 percent of the country's gross domestic product, these financial institutions (now more emphatically "too big to fail") continue to hold the global economy hostage.
-
-
Easy to Understand and Comprehend
- By Kyle on 04-11-10
By: Simon Johnson, and others
-
Shaky Ground
- The Strange Saga of the US Mortgage Giants
- By: Bethany McLean
- Narrated by: Gabra Zackman
- Length: 3 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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.
-
-
Details on the Culture and History of the GSEs
- By Jose on 10-15-15
By: Bethany McLean
-
After the Music Stopped
- The Financial Crisis, the Response, and the Work Ahead
- By: Alan S. Blinder
- Narrated by: Graham Vick
- Length: 15 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Alan S. Blinder - esteemed Princeton professor, Wall Street Journal columnist, and former vice chairman of the Federal Reserve Board under Alan Greenspan - is one of our wisest and most clear-eyed economic thinkers. In After the Music Stopped, he delivers a masterful narrative of how the worst economic crisis in postwar American history happened, what the government did to fight it, and what we must do to recover from it.
-
-
Irresponsible, corrupt, and confused book
- By Thomas on 12-22-14
By: Alan S. Blinder
-
The Ascent of Money
- A Financial History of the World
- By: Niall Ferguson
- Narrated by: Simon Prebble
- Length: 11 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Niall Ferguson follows the money to tell the human story behind the evolution of finance, from its origins in ancient Mesopotamia to the latest upheavals on what he calls Planet Finance. Bread, cash, dosh, dough, loot, lucre, moolah, readies, the wherewithal: Call it what you like, it matters. To Christians, love of it is the root of all evil. To generals, it's the sinews of war. To revolutionaries, it's the chains of labor. Niall Ferguson shows that finance is in fact the foundation of human progress.
-
-
A mostly successful and interesting history
- By A reader on 02-24-09
By: Niall Ferguson
-
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
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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.
-
-
Biased
- By CF on 08-09-19
By: James Freeman, and others
-
Wall Street
- A History, Updated Edition
- By: Charles R. Geisst
- Narrated by: Stephen McLaughlin
- Length: 27 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Wall Street is an unending source of legend - and nightmares. It is a universal symbol of both the highest aspirations of economic prosperity and the basest impulses of greed and deception. Charles R. Geisst's Wall Street is at once a chronicle of the street itself - from the days when the wall was merely a defensive barricade built by Peter Stuyvesant - and an engaging economic history of the United States, a tale of profits and losses, enterprising spirits, and key figures that transformed America into the most powerful economy in the world.
-
-
Many books in one; best linking of stories, eras
- By Philo on 03-23-14
-
13 Bankers
- The Wall Street Takeover and the Next Financial Meltdown
- By: Simon Johnson, James Kwak
- Narrated by: Erik Synnestvedt
- Length: 8 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Even after the ruinous financial crisis of 2008, America is still beset by the depredations of an oligarchy that is now bigger, more profitable, and more resistant to regulation than ever. Anchored by six megabanks, which together control assets amounting to more than 60 percent of the country's gross domestic product, these financial institutions (now more emphatically "too big to fail") continue to hold the global economy hostage.
-
-
Easy to Understand and Comprehend
- By Kyle on 04-11-10
By: Simon Johnson, and others
-
Shaky Ground
- The Strange Saga of the US Mortgage Giants
- By: Bethany McLean
- Narrated by: Gabra Zackman
- Length: 3 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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.
-
-
Details on the Culture and History of the GSEs
- By Jose on 10-15-15
By: Bethany McLean
-
After the Music Stopped
- The Financial Crisis, the Response, and the Work Ahead
- By: Alan S. Blinder
- Narrated by: Graham Vick
- Length: 15 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Alan S. Blinder - esteemed Princeton professor, Wall Street Journal columnist, and former vice chairman of the Federal Reserve Board under Alan Greenspan - is one of our wisest and most clear-eyed economic thinkers. In After the Music Stopped, he delivers a masterful narrative of how the worst economic crisis in postwar American history happened, what the government did to fight it, and what we must do to recover from it.
-
-
Irresponsible, corrupt, and confused book
- By Thomas on 12-22-14
By: Alan S. Blinder
-
The Ascent of Money
- A Financial History of the World
- By: Niall Ferguson
- Narrated by: Simon Prebble
- Length: 11 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Niall Ferguson follows the money to tell the human story behind the evolution of finance, from its origins in ancient Mesopotamia to the latest upheavals on what he calls Planet Finance. Bread, cash, dosh, dough, loot, lucre, moolah, readies, the wherewithal: Call it what you like, it matters. To Christians, love of it is the root of all evil. To generals, it's the sinews of war. To revolutionaries, it's the chains of labor. Niall Ferguson shows that finance is in fact the foundation of human progress.
-
-
A mostly successful and interesting history
- By A reader on 02-24-09
By: Niall Ferguson
-
Fool's Gold
- By: Gillian Tett
- Narrated by: Stephen Hoye
- Length: 10 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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.
-
-
Outstanding narrative about the financial crisis
- By D. Littman on 07-17-09
By: Gillian Tett
-
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
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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.
-
-
A solid telling of crucial history
- By Philo on 06-17-17
By: Scott Nations
-
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
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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.
-
-
Revealing and Convincing
- By Walter on 10-24-11
-
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
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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.
-
-
Required reading
- By David on 10-24-11
By: Gretchen Morgenson, and others
-
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
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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.
-
-
A great telling of an unfortunate part of history
- By Trace on 10-27-20
By: Robert Scheer
-
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
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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.
-
-
This is a beautiful audiobook, and well-narrated.
- By Thirsty Mind on 11-10-18
By: Charles Wheelan
-
How the Other Half Banks
- Exclusion, Exploitation, and the Threat to Democracy
- By: Mehrsa Baradaran
- Narrated by: Priya Ayyar
- Length: 9 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The United States has two separate banking systems today - one serving the well-to-do and another exploiting everyone else. How the Other Half Banks contributes to the growing conversation on American inequality by highlighting one of its prime causes: unequal credit. Mehrsa Baradaran examines how a significant portion of the population, deserted by banks, is forced to wander through a Wild West of payday lenders and check-cashing services to cover emergency expenses and pay for necessities - all thanks to deregulation that began in the 1970s.
-
-
The Borrowers at the Fringe
- By Darwin8u on 09-13-16
By: Mehrsa Baradaran
-
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
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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.
-
-
Great Story Ruined by Monotone Reading
- By Marc on 04-23-13
By: John E. Morris, and others
-
More Money Than God
- Hedge Funds and the Making of a New Elite
- By: Sebastian Mallaby
- Narrated by: Alan Nebelthau
- Length: 16 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Paul Volker Senior Fellow in International Economics at the Council on Foreign Relations, Washington Post journalist Sebastian Mallaby has garnered New York Times Editor’s Choice and Notable Book honors for his enthralling nonfiction. Bolstered by Mallaby’s unprecedented access to the industry, More Money Than God tells the inside story of hedge funds, from their origins in the 1960s and 1970s to their role in the financial crisis of 2007–2009.
-
-
Valiant effort but lacking analytic horsepower...
- By ND on 01-10-11
-
The Fine Print
- How Big Companies Use 'Plain English' to Rob You Blind
- By: David Cay Johnston
- Narrated by: Todd McLaren
- Length: 12 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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.
-
-
A must listen if you love or hate Trump
- By Rob D on 04-19-17
-
The Alchemists
- Three Central Bankers and a World on Fire
- By: Neil Irwin
- Narrated by: Walter Dixon
- Length: 14 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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.
-
-
Couldn't Listen to this narrator
- By Donald on 07-23-13
By: Neil Irwin
-
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
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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.
-
-
When Genius Failed
- By Sean on 12-17-08
By: Roger Lowenstein
What listeners say about Why Wall Street Matters
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Scott Simpson
- 05-05-17
Great Book!
Very informative history of Wall Street with an innovative solution on how to optimize the relationship between it and "Main Street" . As Mr. Cohan points out, whether one likes it or not Wall Street DOES matter!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Maine Dave
- 02-22-19
Repetition ad nauseum
The thesis of the book is interesting: the 2008 financial crisis was caused by investment bankers with the wrong incentives, and government action since then to prevent a repeat has been counter productive and wrong headed. Instead, IB executives must have more skin in their business dealings: to wit, their entire net worth must be on the line. This contrarian prescriptive needs to be fully fleshed out if it is to be seriously discussed and possibly adopted. Instead, the author keeps repeating his thesis, to the point where the bankers start appearing sympathetic.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Doug Sheridan
- 04-26-17
An Inch Deep and A Mile Wide
This book wasn’t for you, but who do you think might enjoy it more?
Persons who feat that ultra-liberals might actually decide to do away with Wall Street altogether. Or persons who have no knowledge about what Wall Street does and why it might have some use.
What could William D. Cohan have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?
Not only this book very superficial, poorly researched and poorly argued, it's a mile wide and an inch deep. Much of the book makes the author seem like a mouthpiece for Wall Street, rather than an analyst of it. Basically, his contention is that the big banks should not be broken back into commercial and investment banks because customers use the banks currently... as if that were proof that we shouldn't tamper with them. He also argues that it would be complicated to disentangle commercial operations from investment banking. He hates the Volker Rule and much of Dodd-Frank. His entire solution is, unbelievably, to have the banks self-police themselves against taking large risks by tying their personal net worth to the performance of the banks. In other words, require them to lose their net worth if the banks go under. Good luck with that.
Did the narration match the pace of the story?
Yes
What character would you cut from Why Wall Street Matters?
None. It is non-fiction.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Denny Rauen
- 03-07-17
Give me a break
Not worth the time to read it. Basically let you know bankers slip up once in a while it's human nature. The best thing to do is take it in the chin until the next time they slip up and then take it on the chin again and again and again. With stiff regulation we'll end up back in the dark ages with nothing....really?
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
2 people found this helpful