READ THIS: ON THE BRINK: Inside the Race to Stop the Collapse of the Global Financial System By Henry M. Paulson, Jr.
It is a lousy, rainy day outside in Manhattan. A couple of weekends ago, we thought spring was here, but today the weather has a lot in common with the economy.
A lot of Americans have no idea what exactly happened to the economy.
They should. It is all in the details.
They know it is not great, but do they know WHY? A lot of people grow up worshiping people in the sports and entertainment world, and that is fine, we like them too, but people should also be aware of the financial wizards and intelligent people in the world that we hope we feature in Movers and Shakers. Do you know what a stock is? Do you know what composes a bond? Do you know that the Fannie that you sit on is not the only one and that Freddie goes beyond Flintstone? Embracing your education and being on the honor roll or dean's list far supercedes any extracurricular in our book. It is not only important to do well academically, it is also important to know what is going on in the world around you and understand why big problems happen. You might learn something from it.
At Whom You Know, we attempt to be non-political because excellence is not about politics. Ever to Excel is something we embrace, and have embraced for many years. We firmly believe in personal responsibility, risk management, and doing what you say. You have to mean what you say, do what you say, and be good for your word to be featured on Whom You Know. This is not as common as you might think. If we find out you are not, your post will be pulled. Many, many factors contributed to the downfall of our economy.
One big factor that makes us very angry is that people that did not understand risk took on more risk than they could support and they expect other people to pick up their mess. We believe that people should clean up their own mess, and should read the details, and if you don't understand them, ask questions until you do! So if you know anything about the financial mess our country and the world is in, you could say we do place blame on people that signed up for a loan or a mortgage and did not fulfill their commitment. We also place blame on the Clinton administration, as you will read below.
A lot of people blame Wall Street, but we think this is mainly out of ignorance.
So-if you are one of those people you should read this book. In On the Brink, Henry Paulson gives a detailed play-by-play from his perspective of how he did his best to solve what he could. We think that it is written well for the regular reader and that is the audience Paulson must have been seeking when he chose the language he did. It is very simple to understand, so simple in fact that if you have a background in finance it might frustrate you (Paulson even defines spread in the most colloquial of terms) - but we hope this appeals to the masses. The everyday American needs to know and understand what happened, if for no other reason other than that of history not repeating itself.
Previously we recommended Larry McDonald's book, which we really liked:
http://www.whomyouknow.com/2009/09/read-this-colossal-failure-of-common.html
To understand all that has gone wrong, you must understand all of the factors and perspectives involved. To put this review of Paulson in greater context, we will quote ourselves from the McDonald review:
"What you, the reader, needs to realize is that this was a national problem before it was a Lehman Brothers problem. McDonald eloquently and succinctly lays forth facts that are irrefutable. Right off the bat on page four he states how the government during the Clinton administration incentivized banks to lend to those who were not necessarily credit-worthy, to put it nicely as we do try to do at Whom You Know- in order to achieve a good community reinvestment act rating. The repeal of Glass-Steagall also played an instrumental role as a catalyst to this financial collapse.
In the book, we get a close-up account of the participants in the Lehman collapse, especially those who saw it coming with a helpless, angry certainty. We meet those at the top, whose reckless, pedal-to-the-floor addiction to growth finally demolished the nation’s oldest investment bank. The Wall Street we encounter here is a ruthless place, where brilliance, arrogance, ambition, greed, capacity for relentless toil, and other human traits combine in a potent mix that sometimes fuels prosperity but occasionally destroys it.
The book reveals never-before-told stories about how those at the helm refused to heed warnings that the company was headed for an iceberg. McDonald also introduces us to the hard-working, devoted people who valiantly fought to get Lehman off its disastrous course. Ultimately, he shows us that it was a crash that didn’t have to happen. Other revelations include:
There were several attempts within the company to stave off disaster, but those at the helm refused to listen
Never-before-told efforts to save Lehman in the last days, including a call to the White House by the former president’s cousin
How anyone who warned of impending disaster or that the company’s addiction to leverage and risk was dangerous was fired
The secret mutiny by high-powered managing directors that set up a coup against chairman and CEO Richard Fuld and president and chief operating officer Joe Gregory
The details of a call between a Lehman managing director and Hank Paulson in 2007
That the team running the company was totally disconnected to the people on the trading floor and to the complexities of today’s financial products
There were major warnings starting as early as May 2005 that could have pulled Lehman back from the madness of the housing market
How a dinner between Dick Fuld and Hank Paulson may have sealed Lehman’s fate"
Although we don't know Paulson or Fuld personally, we get the feeling that there is no love lost between the two, so we can't help but wonder if in Fuld's case, which means Lehman's case - It's Not Who You Know, it's Whom You Know.
To add insult to injury, if you are an avid reader of Read This on Whom You Know, as if there weren't enough problems there were people most notably like the MF, that compounded the problem. We love Alexandra Penney's perspective:
http://www.whomyouknow.com/2010/03/read-this-bag-lady-papers-by-alexandra.html
Whom You Know recommends On the Brink by Henry Paulson. It unpatriotic not to read it!
A lot of Americans have no idea what exactly happened to the economy.
They should. It is all in the details.
They know it is not great, but do they know WHY? A lot of people grow up worshiping people in the sports and entertainment world, and that is fine, we like them too, but people should also be aware of the financial wizards and intelligent people in the world that we hope we feature in Movers and Shakers. Do you know what a stock is? Do you know what composes a bond? Do you know that the Fannie that you sit on is not the only one and that Freddie goes beyond Flintstone? Embracing your education and being on the honor roll or dean's list far supercedes any extracurricular in our book. It is not only important to do well academically, it is also important to know what is going on in the world around you and understand why big problems happen. You might learn something from it.
At Whom You Know, we attempt to be non-political because excellence is not about politics. Ever to Excel is something we embrace, and have embraced for many years. We firmly believe in personal responsibility, risk management, and doing what you say. You have to mean what you say, do what you say, and be good for your word to be featured on Whom You Know. This is not as common as you might think. If we find out you are not, your post will be pulled. Many, many factors contributed to the downfall of our economy.
One big factor that makes us very angry is that people that did not understand risk took on more risk than they could support and they expect other people to pick up their mess. We believe that people should clean up their own mess, and should read the details, and if you don't understand them, ask questions until you do! So if you know anything about the financial mess our country and the world is in, you could say we do place blame on people that signed up for a loan or a mortgage and did not fulfill their commitment. We also place blame on the Clinton administration, as you will read below.
A lot of people blame Wall Street, but we think this is mainly out of ignorance.
So-if you are one of those people you should read this book. In On the Brink, Henry Paulson gives a detailed play-by-play from his perspective of how he did his best to solve what he could. We think that it is written well for the regular reader and that is the audience Paulson must have been seeking when he chose the language he did. It is very simple to understand, so simple in fact that if you have a background in finance it might frustrate you (Paulson even defines spread in the most colloquial of terms) - but we hope this appeals to the masses. The everyday American needs to know and understand what happened, if for no other reason other than that of history not repeating itself.
Previously we recommended Larry McDonald's book, which we really liked:
http://www.whomyouknow.com/2009/09/read-this-colossal-failure-of-common.html
To understand all that has gone wrong, you must understand all of the factors and perspectives involved. To put this review of Paulson in greater context, we will quote ourselves from the McDonald review:
"What you, the reader, needs to realize is that this was a national problem before it was a Lehman Brothers problem. McDonald eloquently and succinctly lays forth facts that are irrefutable. Right off the bat on page four he states how the government during the Clinton administration incentivized banks to lend to those who were not necessarily credit-worthy, to put it nicely as we do try to do at Whom You Know- in order to achieve a good community reinvestment act rating. The repeal of Glass-Steagall also played an instrumental role as a catalyst to this financial collapse.
In the book, we get a close-up account of the participants in the Lehman collapse, especially those who saw it coming with a helpless, angry certainty. We meet those at the top, whose reckless, pedal-to-the-floor addiction to growth finally demolished the nation’s oldest investment bank. The Wall Street we encounter here is a ruthless place, where brilliance, arrogance, ambition, greed, capacity for relentless toil, and other human traits combine in a potent mix that sometimes fuels prosperity but occasionally destroys it.
The book reveals never-before-told stories about how those at the helm refused to heed warnings that the company was headed for an iceberg. McDonald also introduces us to the hard-working, devoted people who valiantly fought to get Lehman off its disastrous course. Ultimately, he shows us that it was a crash that didn’t have to happen. Other revelations include:
There were several attempts within the company to stave off disaster, but those at the helm refused to listen
Never-before-told efforts to save Lehman in the last days, including a call to the White House by the former president’s cousin
How anyone who warned of impending disaster or that the company’s addiction to leverage and risk was dangerous was fired
The secret mutiny by high-powered managing directors that set up a coup against chairman and CEO Richard Fuld and president and chief operating officer Joe Gregory
The details of a call between a Lehman managing director and Hank Paulson in 2007
That the team running the company was totally disconnected to the people on the trading floor and to the complexities of today’s financial products
There were major warnings starting as early as May 2005 that could have pulled Lehman back from the madness of the housing market
How a dinner between Dick Fuld and Hank Paulson may have sealed Lehman’s fate"
Although we don't know Paulson or Fuld personally, we get the feeling that there is no love lost between the two, so we can't help but wonder if in Fuld's case, which means Lehman's case - It's Not Who You Know, it's Whom You Know.
To add insult to injury, if you are an avid reader of Read This on Whom You Know, as if there weren't enough problems there were people most notably like the MF, that compounded the problem. We love Alexandra Penney's perspective:
http://www.whomyouknow.com/2010/03/read-this-bag-lady-papers-by-alexandra.html
Whom You Know recommends On the Brink by Henry Paulson. It unpatriotic not to read it!
***
ON THE BRINK: Inside the Race to Stop the Collapse of the Global Financial System (Business Plus/Grand Central Publishing; February 1, 2010; $28.99; Hardcover) by Henry M. Paulson, Jr. is a riveting, first-person account from the man who was at the epicenter of a perfect economic storm. More than a dramatic re-telling of the financial crisis, ON THE BRINK also reveals Paulson’s thinking behind the actions and decisions that were taken to avert a global financial meltdown.
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 center 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. 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.
ON THE BRINK is Paulson's fast-paced retelling of the key decisions that had to be made with lightning speed. Paulson puts the reader in the room for all the intense moments as he addressed urgent market conditions, weighed critical decisions, and debated policy and economic considerations with of all the notable players—including the CEOs of top Wall Street firms as well as Ben Bernanke, Timothy Geithner, Sheila Bair, Nancy Pelosi, Barney Frank, presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain, and then-President George W. Bush.
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.
Henry M. Paulson, Jr., served under President George W. Bush as the 74th secretary of the Treasury from July 2006 until January 2009. He is proud to support the work of Homeownership Preservation Foundation, which owns and operates the Homeowner’s HOPE Hotline, 888-995-HOPE, a service that counsels families to avoid foreclosure.
Business Plus Hardcover
Publication date: February 1, 2010
$28.99; 480 pages
ISBN: 9780446561938
Visit us: www.HachetteBookGroup.com
