Andrew Ross Sorkin

the inside story of how Wall Street and Washington fought to save the financial system from crisis--and themselves

Too big to fail

SHORTLISTED FOR THE BBC SAMUEL JOHNSON PRIZE 2010 They were masters of the financial universe, flying in private jets and raking in billions. They thought they were too big to fail. Yet they would bring the world to its knees. Andrew Ross Sorkin, the news-breaking New York Times journalist, delivers the first true in-the-room account of the most powerful men and women at the eye of the financial storm - from reviled Lehman Brothers CEO Dick 'the gorilla' Fuld, to banking whiz Jamie Dimon, from bullish Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson to AIG's Joseph Cassano, dubbed 'The Man Who Crashed the World'. Through unprecedented access to the key players, Sorkin meticulously re-creates frantic phone calls, foul-mouthed rows and white-knuckle panic, as Wall Street fought to save itself.

Inside the Battle to Save Wall Street

Too Big to Fail

Magdalene Lim

So this is what reading a book where you already know the ending is like. Going through the Lehman troubles, I thought that was going to be the end but of course it wasn't, because there was still a good portion of the book to go through. You sympathise with the people and yet you know that they are still a lot richer than most of the world, even after losing a large portion of their wealth. 

Reality check: Yes, this is non-fiction.

How is a bailout (oops, sensitive word) or government assistance justified? When the entire economy is dependent on the financial industry and who we're really trying to save is the everyday man on the street. Why was AIG saved when Lehman was not? Because AIG is an insurance company, a place where everyday people like you and I pump our life savings into, to insure ourselves. It sounds like a messy affair, these risky investments and investment-linked insurance policies. What does one put their money into, these days??

My thoughts at the end of the book: I finally finished this book! Though I may have to reread it because I am still so lost as to who did what and the different plots in the book. Note to self: If you should ever see a list of names categorised at the front of the book, be prepared to be confused by a gazillion characters. This is definitely not a "Start and Stop" book, if you know what I mean. Compounded by the fact that I'm not familiar with Wall Street and their major league players... it was an equation for disaster, i.e being lost in the plot, not in the book and definitely not in a good way.

Too big to fail the inside story of how Wall Street and Washington fought to save the financial system from crisis--and themselves

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