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A Colossal Failure of Common Sense
- The Inside Story of the Collapse of Lehman Brothers
- Narrated by: Erik Davies
- Length: 16 hrs and 38 mins
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Publisher's summary
One of the biggest questions of the financial crisis has not been answered until now: What happened at Lehman Brothers and why was it allowed to fail, with aftershocks that rocked the global economy? In this news-making, often astonishing book, a former Lehman Brothers Vice President gives us the straight answers - right from the belly of the beast. In A Colossal Failure of Common Sense, Larry McDonald, a Wall Street insider, reveals, the culture and unspoken rules of the game like no book has ever done. The book is couched in the very human story of Larry McDonald’s Horatio Alger-like rise from a Massachusetts “gateway to nowhere” housing project to the New York headquarters of Lehman Brothers, home of one of the world’s toughest trading floors.
We get a close-up view of the participants in the Lehman collapse, especially those who saw it coming with a helpless, angry certainty. We meet the Brahmins at the top, whose reckless, pedal-to-the-floor addiction to growth finally demolished the nation’ s oldest investment bank. The Wall Street we encounter here is a ruthless place, where brilliance, arrogance, ambition, greed, capacity for relentless toil, and other human traits combine in a potent mix that sometimes fuels prosperity but occasionally destroys it.
The full significance of the dissolution of Lehman Brothers remains to be measured. But this much is certain: It was a devastating blow to America’s - and the world’s - financial system. And it need not have happened. This is the story of why it did.
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Monday, October 19, 1987, was by far the worst day in Wall Street history. The market fell 22.6% - almost twice as bad as the worst day of 1929 - equal to a one-day loss of nearly 5,000 points today. Black Monday was more than seven years in the making and threatened nearly every US financial institution. Drawing on superlative archival research and dozens of original interviews, Diana B. Henriques weaves a tale of missed opportunities, market delusions, and destructive actions.
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Financial History Rhymes
- By David Larson on 10-07-17
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Conspiracy of Fools
- A True Story
- By: Kurt Eichenwald
- Narrated by: Robertson Dean
- Length: 30 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
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Say the name 'Enron' and most people believe they've heard all about the story that imperiled a presidency, destroyed a marketplace, and changed Washington and Wall Street forever. But in the hands of Kurt Eichenwald, the players we think we know and the business practices we think have been exposed are transformed into entirely new, and entirely gripping, material.
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Great Story
- By Adam M Pokorski on 06-06-06
By: Kurt Eichenwald
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Tap Dancing to Work
- Warren Buffett on Practically Everything, 1966–2012: A Fortune Magazine Book
- By: Carol J. Loomis
- Narrated by: Susan Boyce, Barry Press
- Length: 17 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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When Carol Loomis first mentioned a little-known Omaha hedge-fund manager in a 1966 Fortune article, she didn’t dream that Warren Buffett would one day be considered the world’s greatest investor - nor that she and Buffett would become close personal friends. Now Loomis has collected and updated the best Buffett articles Fortune published between 1966 and 2012, including thirteen cover stories and a dozen pieces authored by Buffett himself. Loomis has provided commentary about each major article that supplies context and her own informed point of view.
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A collection of finance articles - not a biography
- By Gerardo A Dada on 08-23-13
By: Carol J. Loomis
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Good for the Money
- My Fight to Pay Back America
- By: Bob Benmosche
- Narrated by: Sean Pratt
- Length: 9 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
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In 2009, at the peak of the financial crisis, AIG - the American insurance behemoth - was sinking fast. It was the peg upon which the nation hung its ire and resentment during the financial crisis: the pinnacle of Wall Street arrogance and greed. When Bob Benmosche climbed aboard as CEO, it was widely assumed that he would go down with his ship. In mere months, he turned things around, pulling AIG from the brink of financial collapse and restoring its profitability.
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Worthwhile, informative, and just short of inspiring
- By Preston on 11-17-21
By: Bob Benmosche
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The Zeroes
- My Misadventures in the Decade Wall Street Went Insane
- By: Randall Lane
- Narrated by: Randall Lane
- Length: 12 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
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Magazine entrepreneur Randall Lane had a prime seat at Wall Street's biggest greed fest. The Zeroes is a memoir about the excesses and bad behavior of an outsider who got pulled into a crazy, self-contained world.
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A very entertaining tale
- By andy on 11-03-13
By: Randall Lane
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King of Capital
- The Remarkable Rise, Fall, and Rise Again of Steve Schwarzman and Blackstone
- By: John E. Morris, David Carey
- Narrated by: George K. Wilson
- Length: 14 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
The financial establishment---banks and investment bankers, such as Citigroup, Bear Stearns, Lehman, UBS, Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch, and Morgan Stanley---were the cowboys, recklessly assuming risks, leveraging up to astronomical levels, and driving the economy to the brink of disaster.
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Great Story Ruined by Monotone Reading
- By Marc on 04-23-13
By: John E. Morris, and others
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Barbarians at the Gate
- The Fall of RJR Nabisco
- By: Bryan Burrough, John Helyar
- Narrated by: Bryan Burrough, John Helyar
- Length: 3 hrs and 2 mins
- Abridged
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Barbarians at the Gate has been called one of the most influential business books of all time, the definitive account of the largest takeover in Wall Street history. Bryan Burrough's and John Helyer's account of the frenzy that overtook Wall Street in October and November of 1988 gives us not only a detailed look at financial operations at the highest levels but a richly textured social history of wealth in the twilight of the Reagan era.
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Abridged and Poorly Read
- By Jake on 01-24-13
By: Bryan Burrough, and others
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How Money Became Dangerous
- The Inside Story of Our Turbulent Relationship with Modern Finance
- By: Christopher Varelas, Dan Stone
- Narrated by: Roger Wayne
- Length: 14 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
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From a veteran of the trade, a provocative and entertaining voyage into the turbulent heart of modern money that sheds new light on the rise of our threatening and complicated financial system, how money became our adversary, and why finding a new course is crucial to a healthy society.
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Must read
- By Craig M. Stratton on 02-08-20
By: Christopher Varelas, and others
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The Bank That Lived a Little
- Barclays in the Age of the Very Free Market
- By: Philip Augar
- Narrated by: Jonathan Keeble
- Length: 15 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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Based on unparalleled access to those involved, and told with compelling pace and drama, The Bank That Lived a Little is the story of one of the most familiar names on the British high street since Big Bang in 1986. Philip Augar describes in detail three decades of boardroom intrigue driven by ruthless ambition, grandiose dreams and a desire for wealth. It is a tale of a struggle for long-term supremacy between rival strategies and their adherents.
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Global superstar bankers under light-touch gov
- By Philo on 12-21-18
By: Philip Augar
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Street Freak
- Money and Madness at Lehman Brothers
- By: Jared Dillian
- Narrated by: LJ Ganser
- Length: 13 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
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When Jared Dillian joined Lehman Brothers in 2001, he fulfilled a life-long dream to make it on Wall Street - but he had no idea how close to the edge the job would take him. Like Michael Lewis' classic Liar's Poker, Jared Dillian's Street Freak takes listeners behind the scenes of the legendary Lehman Brothers, exposing its outrageous and often hilarious corporate culture.
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Performance overwrought, drama swamps meaning
- By Philo on 02-10-17
By: Jared Dillian
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A History of the United States in Five Crashes
- Stock Market Meltdowns That Defined a Nation
- By: Scott Nations
- Narrated by: Christopher Grove
- Length: 12 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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In this absorbing, smart, and accessible blend of economic and cultural history in the vein of the works of Michael Lewis and Andrew Ross Sorkin, a financial executive and CNBC contributor examines the five most significant stock market crashes in the United States over the past century, revealing how they have defined the nation today.
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A solid telling of crucial history
- By Philo on 06-17-17
By: Scott Nations
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Much better than expected
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Excellent!
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Much better than other GE books
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In 2006, hedge fund manager John Paulson realized something few others suspected - that the housing market and the value of subprime mortgages were grossly inflated and headed for a major fall. Paulson's background was in mergers and acquisitions, however, and he knew little about real estate or how to wager against housing. He had spent a career as an also-ran on Wall Street. But Paulson was convinced this was his chance to make his mark. He just wasn't sure how to do it. Colleagues at investment banks scoffed at him and investors dismissed him.
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Excellent!
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Intriguing
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Roger Lowenstein, the bestselling author of Buffett, captures Long-Term's roller-coaster ride in gripping detail. Drawing on confidential internal memos and interviews with dozens of key players, Lowenstein crafts a story that reads like a first-rate thriller from beginning to end. He explains not just how the fund made and lost its money, but what it was about the personalities of Long-Term's partners, the arrogance of their mathematical certainties, and the late-nineties culture of Wall Street that made it all possible.
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When Genius Failed
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How to Listen When Markets Speak
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A New York Times bestselling author and leading expert on market risk argues that seismic shifts in the global economy will trigger a multi-trillion-dollar migration of wealth, tracing the fateful decisions that created this crisis—and outlines new rules of investing for the forward-thinking.
By: Lawrence G. McDonald, and others
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Pyramid of Lies
- The Prime Minister, the Banker and the Billion Pound Scandal
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Performance
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In March 2021, an obscure financial technology company called Greensill Capital collapsed, going into administration. As it unravelled, a multibillion-dollar scandal emerged that would shake the very foundations of the British political system, drawing in swiss bankers, global CEOs, and world leaders, including former British Prime Minister, David Cameron. At the centre was an Australian financier named Lex Greensill. Pyramid of Lies charts the meteoric rise and spectacular downfall of Greensill and his company.
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Could not quite get into it
- By Andrew M. on 05-29-23
By: Duncan Mavin
What listeners say about A Colossal Failure of Common Sense
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall
- Susan Hayden
- 07-28-09
First take: Tale of the narcissist
I almost gave up on this book because of the unnecessary autobiographical and self laudatory detail the author indulged in for the first 4 or 5 chapters. He's just soooooo amazing, how he single handedly pulled himself up by his boot straps and launched his own brilliant career. Isn't he just wonderful?!? It went on and on in this tone, "I'm just the greatest, amazing, how I overcame all these obstacles, like I'm the only person who ever worked 20 hour days ..." blah blah blah. 4 hours into it and not a word about Lehman experience yet. Profoundly disappointing and stupid. I will revise when/if I ever get through this nauseating thing.
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26 people found this helpful
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Overall
- Jairus
- 08-02-09
Failure of Common Sense by the Publisher
Lawrence McDonald, former pork chop salesman, did his greatest selling job ever in getting Random House to publish this book. It is an auto-hagiography with some gossip added. It would be better published in comic book form because all the characters are either good or evil.
Not only is it an extremely tedious and boring book, it is very poorly written. I know that Patrick Robinson has written other books, but I hope they are better written than this. It is full of well worn cliches, but the worst part is the rampant metaphor abuse. Some of them go on for paragraphs and most are unoriginal.
There is no question that Richard Fuld made horrible management mistakes in the failure of Lehman Brothers, but this book certainly does not offer any real evidence. I hope someone like Michael Lewis, who can write and is not full of himself, takes on this important topic.
I have read scores of books on Wall Street and this is without a doubt the worst book on the subject I have ever read/listened to. It may be the worst book on any subject I suffered through.
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16 people found this helpful
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Overall
- James
- 09-19-09
Fascinating Story, Pooly Delivered
Seems that all of the reviews are accurate. The author is a narcissist, and parts of the book are very poorly written, comically so at times. Yes, there is rampant metaphor abuse; the narration is so amateur I thought is was read by the author. That said, the story is fascinating, and the message that Lehman's failure should not have happened and would not have happened had top management been more capable and responsible or heeded the alarm bells of 2006 is persuasive. I have never worked on Wall Street, and was riveted until the end, though often annoyed by the arrogance of the author and poor writing, I recommend this Audible offering, a nice compliment to William Cohan's better offering, House of Cards: A Tale of Hubris and Wretched Excess on Wall Street.
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7 people found this helpful
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Overall
- Pasch
- 08-03-09
Dubious account.
The value of this book is that its focus is on the Lehman Brothers collapse. In conjunction with other books such as Chain of Blame, House of Cards, and Trillion Dollar Meltdown, I found it informative. It is hard to fully understand the collapse of Lehman Brothers without also understanding the collapse of Bear Sterns and Countrywide as well the many other events. This book serves as another piece to the puzzle.
However, I agree with other reviewers who stated that this book is the "tale of the narcissist." The personal narrative sections are very off-putting. Even the descriptions of the author's co-workers I suspect are exaggeration. In short, the author is very self-aggrandizing, which makes me skeptical of the first person events he describes.
However, about 60% of the narrative deals with the bigger picture of the collapse of Lehman and the financial crises in general. I found this portion of the book useful in better understanding the events which precipitated and transpired during the financial crises of 2008.
I recommend this book in conjunction with other, more reliable sources, for those interested in better understanding the role the collapse of Lehmans's played in the financial crises of 2008.
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4 people found this helpful
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Overall
- Wade
- 08-09-09
Good read but lacking in philosophical learning
This book was a personal and impassioned account of the collapse of Lehman Brothers.
After a short explanation of how the author began his career at the firm he spins a fascinating yarn of brilliant and powerful people who saw the iceberg coming, but are unable to take the controls in time to save the ship.
The author on the one hand celebrates what great minds can accomplish in an unregulated 'free market' system while at the same time being shocked at the destruction such power can have when inevitable human flaws take their toll. It is the author's bafflement with the two sides of the same coin that the reader is left with.
While this book will not be the definitive history on the collapse on Lehman Brothers, it was a fascinating insiders look to the world of high finance. I was riveted until the end and would recommend it.
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- Michael Moore
- 08-05-09
Informative First Hand Account
This is a first-hand and very informative account of the reasons Lehman Brothers fell into ruin and bankruptcy in September 2008. The author was a Lehman bond trader, a loyal employee (this was his dream job), and part of a group within Lehman that was highly disturbed by the high risk strategy continued by top management even after stormy conditions had arisen in what had been a highly profitable ride for Lehman in the sub-prime CMO market. "Strategy" may be a euphemism here because according to the author top management was not open to rational argument on Lehman's business course, even when confronted as early as 2006 by highly able and experienced Wall Street executives within Lehman. The dissenting voices were forced out or squelched until it was too late. The lethal combination of high leverage (44 times at its high in 2008) and unsaleable real estate, private equity, and CMO assets reached the point where Lehman was no longer seaworthy when it hit the unprecedented financial storms of 2008. The author clearly makes the case that Lehman's failure should not have happened and would not have happened had top management been more capable and responsible or heeded the alarm bells of 2006.
The book does have some flaws. The author is on less sure ground when he talks about the general causes of the financial crisis of 2008. For example, he cites the repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act in 1999 as a key contributor. Yet only one of the keystone US financial firms facing collapse in 2008 (Citigroup) was organized under a corporate structure that included a major commercial bank. Further, the rescue of Merrill Lynch by BofA and the approval of Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley to become bank holding companies--all elements of the Government's response to the financial crisis of 2008--would not have been legally permitted under the old Glass-Steagall Act.
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- Fred
- 12-13-09
Useful but a little self serving
For a number of reasons the Lehman bankruptcy is a very important and painful personal event in the context of my own financial and business interests.
So while the author does adequately remind us that hindsight is always 20/20, I was a little tired of hearing repeatedly of the absolute world class brilliance of various Lehman trading teams. While I am in no position to determine whether these claims of brilliance are correct, I do have to continually remind everyone that anyone in the senior manager position or above at this company has to be considered fairly complicit in this collossal failure.
That being said, the book is a nice, easy to listen to narrative of the insanity that led to this collapse. The author's point of view is well positioned and the personal stories are helpful. Its a little more autobiographical than I thought it would be, but that's OK.
As a senior unsecured creditor myself, I wish it would have shed more light on the potential outcome of the bankruptcy, but that's probably another book all together.
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- robert
- 09-22-09
Entertaining, but not factual
Author is self-absored and was clearly a low-level trader at Lehman, so a lot of what is proffered is hearsay. Also, I really didn't care to know about his life story in the first 3 chapters - irrelevant and self-serving, not to mention poorly written. If you like hearing lots of dirt, regardless of source or validity, this might work for you. Forthcoming books and audio on Lehman's collapse will have far more credibility - I hope.
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- Jim
- 09-19-09
Exciting Telling of a story.
McDonald does a great job of setting up all the figures in the collapse, both good and bad. He kept in suspenseful and interesting. For not knowing about Wall Street, he did a good job of explaining these complex transactions in lay-man terms so it was easily understood. By far the most complete and understandable explanantion on how it all went down. I recommend it.
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- Amazon Customer
- 10-13-23
A great recap with dramatic effect
It’s a great story told from the somewhat dramatic lens of the front-line author, who saw a hand at the rise and fall of a massive firm.
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