Robert

The difference between this title and others in the economics/"Great Recession" category is that it comes from from someone who was inside the US government in a high-level position at the time of the TARP bailouts. This gives listeners a different and severely troubling perspective than one would receive from those outside of the government sphere (such as economists, academics, Wall Streeters, TV political talk show hosts, etc.).

With that - this is a MUST listen, and I found Mr. Barofsky's narrative very troubling with respect to our nation, government, and the political circus that we (the American people) have let Washington DC become. Whether it can be 'fixed' (and always ask the question 'fixed - for whom?') remains to be seen, but from what I gleaned from this excellent title, don't hold your breath waiting for miracles from the US government.

Kudos to Mr. Barofsky for the candid bearing of the 'soul' of the US government as it deals with severe economic crisis....and pray for our nation, as it sure needs it.

There is no doubt that Luce will get you thinking as you listen to his non-partisan report on how and why American government is broken and under pressure. He tells it like it really is and doesn't pander to the left or the right. While he offers some vague 'solutions' at the end of the title, the listeners are left at the end to decide for themselves - based on his unbiased reporting - what path America should take going forward, if it is truly possible to do so.

One minor complaint about this title: the F-bomb is used approximately 5 times in the performance (and I assume that it appeared in the book); usually when someone is being quoted. However, when the word appears, it is bleeped-out (loudly) but there is little doubt what curse word is being used. I found that annoying - just keep the word in there as we are all adults and I'd rather have the audio be completely true to the text.

Although he could ditch the Esperanto - a great, entertaining listen....so much so that I listened to it twice on a long business trip. The stories are great and Bill is very, very articulate....about everything!

Definitely not on impulse power at 80 years old - hope I can be that way if and when that time comes...:)

There are a lot of titles about the economic crisis, and I've listened or read most of them. While almost all of them are very good, this title stands above the rest. You will not listen to hope, change, or promises here. Rather, you will get the crap scared out of you if governments, in particular ours in the USA, do not act NOW to stop spending like drunken sailors and pay down the massive debt that has been rung up for years and years.

Does this mean that grandma gets thrown into the snowbank and our kids grow up illiterate? No. What it does mean is that our economy (and others) cannot sustain current spending and debt and this needs to be fixed soon, or things will get so much worse that 2008 will be remembered as 'good times' a few years from now. Structural change now, or we go bust...a MUST listen.

Monotonic narration by [redacted] concerning [redacted] and [obfuscated] could cause listener to fall asleep quickly. Wish I could make some money reading boring memoranda in detail all the way down to the index. Narrator could read IRS tax form instructions in detail and it would be more interesting than this.

Governor, next time you may want to write about your days jumping off the top rope onto Hulk Hogan - it would be far more interesting and entertaining.