Bailout

An Inside Account of How Washington Abandoned Main Street While Rescuing Wall Street

By: Neil Barofsky

Narrated by: Joe Barrett

Length: 9 hrs and 27 mins

Publisher's summary

An insider of both the Bush and Obama administrations offers an irrefutable indictment of the mishandling of the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program bailouts and the extreme degree to which our government officials—from both parties—served the interests of Wall Street at the expense of the public.

From his first day on the job as the special inspector general in charge of overseeing the distribution of the bailout money, Neil Barofsky found that the officials at the Treasury Department in charge of the bailouts were in thrall to the interests of the big banks. In vivid behind-the-scenes detail he reveals how they steadfastly failed to hold the banks accountable even as they disregarded major job losses caused by the auto bailouts and refused to help struggling homeowners. He discloses how the team at the Treasury under Secretary Timothy Geithner worked with Wall Street executives to design programs that would have funneled vast amounts of taxpayer money to their firms and allowed them to game the markets and make huge profits with almost no risk and no accountability. Providing stark details about how—through a combination of sheer incompetence and a profound disregard of the plight of homeowners—the interests of the broader public were betrayed, he recounts how an increasingly aggressive war was waged by the Treasury against his efforts to raise the alarm about the failures.

Bailout is a riveting account of his plunge into the political meat grinder of Washington, as well as a vital revelation of just how captive to Wall Street our political system is and why the too-big-to-fail banks have only become bigger and more dangerous in the wake of the crisis.

Neil Barofsky is currently a senior fellow at New York University School of Law. From December 2008 until March 2011, he served as the special inspector general in charge of oversight of the Troubled Asset Relief Program. Before that he was a federal prosecutor in the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York. Bailout is his first book.

©2012 Neil Barofsky (P)2012 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Every American Should Read This

If you are an American, you need to read this. It will truly frighten you to learn just how much the government was working AGAINST you when the financial markets got in trouble... UNLESS you're the CEO of a big bank, and then the government is actually YOUR BEST FRIEND! It truly amazes me how the big banks can break laws, make risky bets, and walk all over the average citizen, and yet our government REWARDS them for it!! This is stuff that would send any "average" citizen to jail, and it's getting the big banks (and their CEOs) REWARDED. Yes, a few trillion in free money, for doing nothing, is a reward.

Before reading this book, I knew it was bad, but WOW!! It is much worse than I thought. Bravo to Barofsky for having the balls to write this.

It is non-political, fair, and fact-filled. What's really impressive is how the author took a subject that is boring, and over most people's heads, and made it exciting and easy to comprehend. You don't need an MBA to enjoy this book... even though what our government did to us should make you sick.

Narrator is great.

Wonder why the banks won and homeowners lost?

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

If you've ever pondered that question, this book will give you the answer. The subtitle delivers on its promise though there is a lot of political infighting detail that's probably only interesting to those who deal in that world.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

A little too much irony in his voice

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

It made me furious, and all the more appalled at the blinder-wearing WonderBoy and defender of concentrated wealth, Mr. Timothy Geitner. Few people could have served the oligarchy of self-interested bankers looking to screw ordinary citizens better than he did.

The Story from the Inside

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.

Baracked

Bailout lays out how TARP and related programs failed miserably, and intentionally, to assist the American people during the Great Recession, primarily because Treasury (and, it seems, Obama) only ever intended to save the big banks. “Obama wants this to work!” may be the most telling phrase of the entire book.

The bailout outrages began under George Bush and his Treasury Secretary, Hank Paulson. Paulson, former head of Goldman Sachs, set in place the “save the banks” approach to the financial crisis from the outset.

Obama dutifully followed suit because he wanted the political points for saving the economy. He chose to adopt the Bush/Paulson position and would not give an inch. The new TARP inspector general was viewed as an adversary by both the White House and Treasury. The new administration and new Treasury Secretary never seem to have assessed for themselves whether their entire approach was useful or hopelessly misguided. They would prevail by sidelining the IG. Just silence the critics, and somehow the crisis would resolve itself.

No one in a position of influence seemed bothered by the obvious pro-bank slant of the program as it shambled forward.

Obama was quite simply too wet behind the ears to be elected president in 2008. He wasted so much time helping the banks and alienating Main Street. And in 2016, the USA, assisted by the perfect beautiful Putin, gave the whole country a vicious con-man to replace Obama.

Do you think maybe Americans were tired of being lied to, and sick and tired of watching the wealthy prevail while ordinary people suffered?

Shocking Exposure of Geithner

This book is made more credible because it is written by a Democrat, the greed and toadying to the big banks by the government is shocking well read and written although a bit "me" focused.

One honest broker

Today is June 20, 2022 and I just finished reading his book. As a regular American busy with raising children and going to work every day I did not see this book in 2012 and I doubt many Americans did. But having listened to this now I find it shocking and my mistrust in the American government is now firmly cemented. after hearing of the corruption that existed in the treasury department and probably still does, I have little faith that anything will change.

Barofsky Goes to Washington

Barofsky tells the story of how he was the US prosecutor working on major drug cases out of Columbia but became the top cop put in charge of policing the Troubled Asset Relief Program. Unlike many other books about the debt crisis and the bailout this one tells the personal story of one of the inside players. The story format makes the book a much more enjoyable read than the traditional here are the facts with some questionable conclusions style.

The theme of the book is how the Washington culture is toxic with everyone serving only their own interests. Of course Barofsky paints himself as the hero who will not be corrupted by the pressure to conform in his role as the Inspector General of the TARP. He describes how the circumstances and actions of the people at the Treasury Department hindered his ability to have much of any effect at all on how the program was implemented and how the money was used. He blames most of the problems of the TARP on the people at the Treasury Department and claims most of the failures would not have happened if only they had heeded his advice such as to require strict income verification for trial mortgage modifications. He depicts Timothy Geithner as a stubborn and angry bureaucrat who does not listen to reason.

The revelation of the book is that despite the justification of TARP to help the average American underwater in their mortgage and to be a strategic strengthening of the balance sheets of sound and secure companies it was in fact always intended by the Treasury Department to be just an instant cash infusion into companies at the brink of collapse with no string attached. This is what Barofsky says is the real reason why the Treasury stifled transparency and made the job of Inspector General practically a joke. There???s nothing really shocking in this book except perhaps the confrontation between Barofsky and Geithner near the end. This book is clearly Barofsky???s attempt to vindicate himself for the failure of the TARP, but it does make for interesting reading, not only because it???s a story about the bailout but because it???s a story about what???s wrong with Washington and why it???s so hard to change.

SHAME ON OBOMA ADMINISTRATION

Former President Bush often gets a bad rap, and often rightfully so, for his handling of the economy but after reading 'Bailout', shame should fall on the Obama administration and especially the Treasury Department and it's head secretary Geithner. The duty of the Inspector General is to protect the tax payer so who would have thought that his biggest obstacle would be our own Government under Geithner. If this book does not make you mad, nothing will.

An American Hero

Would you listen to Bailout again? Why?

Most definitely...!

What did you like best about this story?

The truth without the usual political snow job.

Which scene was your favorite?

I enjoyed every minute of the audio book.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

A struggle for honest government.

Any additional comments?

Neil Barofsky is an American hero. Neil hired extraordinary people to assist him with an impossible job. There is no happy ever after here but Neil Barofsky gave the treasury department, and the banks, nightmares for their blatant incompetence, malfeasance and fraud.

Barofsky runs into a brick wallstreet

What did you love best about Bailout?

The inside story on the power hungry, self absorbed characters in Washington.

Any additional comments?

Barofsky tells an interesting, well organized story about his efforts to curb the extensive selfish influences on the bailout of wallstreet and the banks. To hear his side of it, he was thwarted at nearly every turn by both the banks, lobbyists, wall street, and worst of all the federal government itself. It is frustrating and enormously telling how helpless we, the tax paying, hard working, american public are to stop the overreaching power of the rich and our own government, given that this information is and has been public for some time and no one of any standing, is in jail.

It is understandable that Barofsky see's himself as a victim who did everything he could...and I am far from armed with proof that he didnt, yet I finished the book feeling like his efforts were less than heroic and that by playing within their rules he accomplised very little compared to the astronomical waste and obscene corruption woven throughout the bailout debacle.