In the wake of the financial crisis of 2008, the largest banks at its center have emerged bigger, more profitable, and more resistant to regulation, even as they continue to wield power in Washington. Without an effective government crackdown on their deleterious, conventional practices, these banksโโtoo big to failโ and holding the global economy hostageโthreaten to create yet another crippling economic downturn. The choice that our political and economic system faces is stark: accede to the vested interests of an unfettered financial sector that runs up profits in good years and dumps its losses on taxpayers in lean years, or reform, through stringent regulation, the banking system as an engine of economic growth.
In 13 Bankers, Simon Johnsonโone of the most prominent economists in America (former chief economist of the International Monetary Fund, professor of entrepreneurship at MIT, and author of the controversial and much debated โThe Quiet Coupโ in The Atlantic)โand James Kwak examine not only how Wall Streetโs ideology, wealth, and political power among policy makers in Washington led to the financial debacle of 2008, but also what the lessons learned portend for the future. To restore health and balance to our economy, they argue, we must confront the political force of big finance and reverse the inside-the-Beltway consensus that what is good for Wall Street is good for Main Street.
Lucid, authoritative, and crucial for its timeliness, 13 Bankers is certain to be one of the most discussed books of the season.
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