Griftopia

Bubble Machines, Vampire Squids, and the Long Con That Is Breaking America

By: Matt Taibbi

Narrated by: Patrick Egan

Length: 11 hrs and 55 mins

Publisher's summary

The dramatic story behind the most audacious power grab in American history.

The financial crisis that exploded in 2008 isn’t past but prologue. The stunning rise, fall, and rescue of Wall Street in the bubble-and-bailout era was the coming-out party for the network of looters who sit at the nexus of American political and economic power. The grifter class - made up of the largest players in the financial industry and the politicians who do their bidding - has been growing in power for a generation, transferring wealth upward through increasingly complex financial mechanisms and political maneuvers. The crisis was only one terrifying manifestation of how they’ve hijacked America’s political and economic life.

Rolling Stone’s Matt Taibbi here unravels the whole fiendish story, digging beyond the headlines to get into the deeper roots and wider implications of the rise of the grifters. He traces the movement’s origins to the cult of Ayn Rand and her most influential - and possibly weirdest - acolyte, Alan Greenspan, and offers fresh reporting on the backroom deals that decided the winners and losers in the government bailouts. He uncovers the hidden commodities bubble that transferred billions of dollars to Wall Street while creating food shortages around the world, and he shows how finance dominates politics, from the story of investment bankers auctioning off America’s infrastructure to an inside account of the high-stakes battle for health-care reform - a battle the true reformers lost. Finally, he tells the story of Goldman Sachs, the “vampire squid wrapped around the face of humanity".

Taibbi has combined deep sources, trailblazing reportage, and provocative analysis to create the most lucid, emotionally galvanizing, and scathingly funny account yet written of the ongoing political and financial crisis in America. This is essential listening for anyone who wants to understand the labyrinthine inner workings of politics and finance in this country, and the profound consequences for us all.

©2010 Matt Taibbi (P)2010 Random House Audio

Very interesting

Well researched, and it really put the complex housing bubble burst into perspective. Taibbi's humor and analogies keep it interesting, while delivering a great view of the people and practices involved.

Untold story told well-- The Emperor's New Clothes

Turns out the emperor's new clothes are missing, and while you might think that "the abuse of power comes as no surprise" but trust me you'll be surprised. Matt Taibbi writing is like Studs Terkel meets Shack. He's highly moral logical and he will be stuffing the ball right in front of you if not over you, just in case you want to call him a conspiracy nut like the spokesman for Goldman Sachs did.

It’ll make your grad spin

Should probably be taught in a class with lectures and reading assignments. Insane corruption and a confusing trail to follow.

Loved it!

Great information that the general public isn't often privy to. And Taibbi doesn't slant left or right..he names names..putting blame where it belongs. Narrator was perfect.

Amazing

I can't say anough about this honest portrait of the our recent economic crisis. Brilliant. And he swears a lot which I like.

Eye-opening

Matt Taibbi breaks down wall street culture and practices that are so vile, Americans should be at their doors with pitchforks.

Hilariously cynical

Facts, humor and an awesome narrator make Griftopia an awesome read/listen. Tiabbi deftly navigates America's new age financial labyrinth to explain in layman's terms how bankers, politicians and plutocrats are literally "making" a fortune on the backs of everyday people.

a must read for all citizens of US

I hand it to the Rolling Stone mag. for giving their journalists the freedom to write. Taibbi's Griftopia is well researched and organized. His expressions are colorful (often funny) and appropriate for the most part.

I've read a number of books in the aftermath of 2008-09 market disaster (Too Big Too Fail, Crisis Economics, The Big Short, When Markets Collide), each covers the crisis from a different perspective. Taibbi's book exposes the insidiousness of the corruption between Wall Street and Washington. And he does it with style.

Truly this is a read for all citizens.

Wall Street owns this country

this book will get you pissed in a good way. wall street is full of criminals.

Eye opening

Unbelievable what this book teaches. A must read for every American homeowner and minor investor.