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Bubble Machines, Vampire Squids, and the Long Con That Is Breaking America
Random House Inc
November 2010
On Sale: November 2, 2010
272 pages
ISBN: 0385529953
EAN: 9780385529952
Hardcover
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Non-Fiction
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 reading for anyone who wants to
understand the labyrinthine inner workings of politics and
finance in this country, and the profound consequences for
us all.
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