• Reckless Endangerment

  • How Outsized Ambition, Greed, and Corruption Led to Economic Armageddon
  • By: Gretchen Morgenson, Joshua Rosner
  • Narrated by: L. J. Ganser
  • Length: 11 hrs and 57 mins
  • 4.1 out of 5 stars (156 ratings)

Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible?
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.
Reckless Endangerment  By  cover art

Reckless Endangerment

By: Gretchen Morgenson, Joshua Rosner
Narrated by: L. J. Ganser
Try for $0.00

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $24.95

Buy for $24.95

Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.

Publisher's summary

The New York Times' Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist reveals how the financial meltdown emerged from the toxic interplay of Washington, Wall Street, and corrupt mortgage lenders.

In Reckless Endangerment, Gretchen Morgenson, the star business columnist of The New York Times, exposes how the watchdogs who were supposed to protect the country from financial harm were actually complicit in the actions that finally blew up the American economy.

Drawing on previously untapped sources and building on original research from coauthor Joshua Rosner, who himself raised early warnings with the public and investors, and kept detailed records, Morgenson connects the dots that led to this fiasco.

Morgenson and Rosner draw back the curtain on Fannie Mae, the mortgage-finance giant that grew, with the support of the Clinton administration, through the 1990s, becoming a major opponent of government oversight even as it was benefiting from public subsidies. They expose the role played not only by Fannie Mae executives but also by enablers at Countrywide Financial, Goldman Sachs, the Federal Reserve, HUD, Congress, the FDIC, and the biggest players on Wall Street, to show how greed, aggression, and fear led countless officials to ignore warning signs of an imminent disaster. Character-rich and definitive in its analysis, this is the one account of the financial crisis you must hear.

©2011 Gretchen Morgenson & Joshua Rosner (P)2011 Audible, Inc.
  • Unabridged Audiobook
  • Categories: History

Critic reviews

"Naming names and taking no prisoners, they drill deep into one of the most disturbing scandals of our time, perpetrated in the name of helping "the little guy." Read it and weep. Read it and vow: Never Again! (Bill Moyers)

What listeners say about Reckless Endangerment

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    78
  • 4 Stars
    39
  • 3 Stars
    21
  • 2 Stars
    9
  • 1 Stars
    9
Performance
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    68
  • 4 Stars
    39
  • 3 Stars
    15
  • 2 Stars
    5
  • 1 Stars
    4
Story
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    72
  • 4 Stars
    31
  • 3 Stars
    14
  • 2 Stars
    7
  • 1 Stars
    7

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Technical issues

Any additional comments?

The story was good but the book kept turning itself off. It performed poorly. I've listened to many books and this is the second time overall this has happened. Guess I just picked the wrong book. I'm returning this one.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!