• 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)

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Reckless Endangerment  By  cover art

Reckless Endangerment

By: Gretchen Morgenson, Joshua Rosner
Narrated by: L. J. Ganser
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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

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Required reading

This is an essential look into how Fannie Mae drove down lending standards, leading to the real estate bubble of the last decade and terrible crash that followed. The prose is a bit purple at times, but a great story.

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9 people found this helpful

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Propaganda, not journalism

I wasn't previously familiar with the author's work, but I figured that a Pulitzer prize winner would make an effort to maintain some semblance of journalistic integrity. I knew from the title that the book would have a point of view, but I wasn't expecting it to be blatant spin.

I don't even necessarily disagree with the premise--Fannie and Freddie were indeed a big part of the problem--I just resent the fact that the book is being sold as something other than partisan hyperbole. The facts that the narrator presented are, from what I can tell, actual facts, but they're not being reported, they're being sold. It's even narrated in a sort of preachy, outraged tone. I got about three hours in, then gave up.

If you're looking for a more balanced examination of the same general events, I recommend The End of Wall Street. If you're just killing time until Glenn Beck comes on, this will probably be to your taste.

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6 people found this helpful

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    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Captivating and enlightening story

Would you consider the audio edition of Reckless Endangerment to be better than the print version?

Not necessarily.

Any additional comments?

As a former commercial banker, I had some idea of the events leading up to the Financial Crisis of 2008, but the depth and breadth of the enabling institutions (e.g., Fannie/Freddie, US Congress, the Fed, etc.) on both sides of the political spectrum was at once enlightening and depressing. I think Morgenstern's history and argument structure is terrific and lacks the lazy criticism seen in so many other places.

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5 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars

I liked it very much

What did you love best about Reckless Endangerment?

I am new to audible so I don't have much to base my review on, but if you listen to this book you will know what happened to the housing and mortgage market and who was involved.

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4 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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  • 12-18-12

Best Explaination of WHAT HAPPENED

The authors name names, document dates and statements and explain in detail exactly how the financial crisis happened. Alarm bells were rung and ignored by our "leaders" while they cheered and facilitated the lemmings march over the cliff. Great book.

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3 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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A DIFFERENT VIEW FROM TOO BIG TO FAIL

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

This is a great book with some good insight to the Financial Crisis. Although I did enjoy Sorkin's Too Big To Fail, Reckless Endangerment takes a look at the push from the government (including Dodd & Frank) for affordable housing. If you have read/listened to other Financial Crisis books and enjoyed them, add this to your list, you will enjoy it.

What other book might you compare Reckless Endangerment to and why?

Too Big To Fail

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3 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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So informative

This book is so informative, though the substance is infuriating and unbelievable. I am glad that I listened; reading it would have been difficult for me. I liked the performance, feeling a bit comfortable with the voice having realized that he also narrated In The Plex, which I also enjoyed.

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2 people found this helpful

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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Good story, felt somewhat biased

What did you love best about Reckless Endangerment?

Reckless Endangerment was an interesting overview of how we find ourselves in our recent financial crisis (at least with respect to issues in the United States). The authors do a nice job of tying individual events of the last twenty years and how they led, foreseeably to our current situation. Overall I enjoyed this book though it felt at times less of an historic review and more of an editorial.

What did you like best about this story?

Great overview of recent financial events.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No, but I don't think that at all harmed my opinion of the book.

Any additional comments?

Overall, an enjoyable book though the perspective felt a bit slanted at times.

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2 people found this helpful

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Outstanding

I’ve read many books about financial crisis from the S&L loan crisis, to the junk bond fiasco, to the Enron and Worldcom accounting scandals, and the mortgage crisis. This book is one of the better books. It’s instructive without being dry. Incisive and interesting.

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Excellent

A superbly researched and executed story on the financial crisis. Comprehensive in every way, from main street to Wall Street and the regulators and legislators in between.

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