Stress Test

Reflections on Financial Crises

By: Timothy F. Geithner

Narrated by: Timothy F. Geithner

New York Times Bestseller

Washington Post Bestseller

Los Angeles Times Bestseller

Stress Test is the story of Tim Geithner’s education in financial crises. As president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and then as President Barack Obama’s secretary of the Treasury, Timothy F. Geithner helped the United States navigate the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression, from boom to bust to rescue to recovery. In a candid, riveting, and historically illuminating memoir, he takes readers behind the scenes of the crisis, explaining the hard choices and politically unpalatable decisions he made to repair a broken financial system and prevent the collapse of the Main Street economy. This is the inside story of how a small group of policy makers—in a thick fog of uncertainty, with unimaginably high stakes—helped avoid a second depression but lost the American people doing it. Stress Test is also a valuable guide to how governments can better manage financial crises, because this one won’t be the last.

Stress Test reveals a side of Secretary Geithner the public has never seen, starting with his childhood as an American abroad. He recounts his early days as a young Treasury official helping to fight the international financial crises of the 1990s, then describes what he saw, what he did, and what he missed at the New York Fed before the Wall Street boom went bust. He takes readers inside the room as the crisis began, intensified, and burned out of control, discussing the most controversial episodes of his tenures at the New York Fed and the Treasury, including the rescue of Bear Stearns; the harrowing weekend when Lehman Brothers failed; the searing crucible of the AIG rescue as well as the furor over the firm’s lavish bonuses; the battles inside the Obama administration over his widely criticized but ultimately successful plan to end the crisis; and the bracing fight for the most sweeping financial reforms in more than seventy years. Secretary Geithner also describes the aftershocks of the crisis, including the administration’s efforts to address high unemployment, a series of brutal political battles over deficits and debt, and the drama over Europe’s repeated flirtations with the economic abyss.

Secretary Geithner is not a politician, but he has things to say about politics—the silliness, the nastiness, the toll it took on his family. But in the end, Stress Test is a hopeful story about public service. In this revealing memoir, Tim Geithner explains how America withstood the ultimate stress test of its political and financial systems.

©2014 Timothy F. Geithner (P)2014 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

A Financial Times Best Book of 2014

“He’s written a really good book — we might as well get that out of the way, as so much else about Timothy F. Geithner remains unsettled… There’s hardly a moment in Geithner’s story when the reader feels he is being anything but straightforward — a near-superhuman feat for someone who spent so much time in public life defending himself from careless and dishonest personal attacks. The decisions he made are easier to criticize than they are to improve upon. I doubt many readers will put his book down and think the man did anything but his best. On his feet he might have stammered and wavered. That in itself was always a sign he was unusually brave.” –Michael Lewis, New York Times Book Review

“An intimate take on the financial crisis… gripping… conveys in visceral terms just how precarious things were during the crisis, just how frightened many first responders were, and just what an achievement it was to avert a major depression… [Geithner] demonstrates that he can discuss economics in an accessible fashion, making the situation the country faced in 2008 and 2009 tactile, comprehensible—and harrowing—to the lay reader. Along the way, he also gives us a telling portrait of himself.” –New York Times

“A how-to manual for anyone faced with a financial crisis… Mr Geithner was known for his brutal candor, and as an author, he does not disappoint.” —The Economist

Surprisingly well read and well written account!

First, I am usually loathe to review a book I have not completed. Second, I usually prefer a professional narrator to the author's own reading. Last, my tastes have run towards classical fiction and opera in recent months, perhaps because I work in the bond markets and it isn't all that relaxing to keep on working during my commute as well as during a 12 hour workday.

All that aside, this is SUCH a fascinating account of Secretary Tim Geithner's life and work experience that I am breaking with habit and writing a review although I am only a few hours into the book.

Geithner is actually a pretty decent narrator considering what a mediocre public speaker he was, and continues to apologize for. He has a tendency to drop his voice a little at the end of sentences which forced me to repeat some of his reading - but that small flaw is quite manageable and shouldn't discourage even picky listeners.

The story of his life and experience is quite engaging and well-written. His background is unusual and his perspectives sharp. This audio reveals him to be quite different from person portrayed by the press or even his own public appearances during his tenure in office and he defends his decisions and positions well. I am really impressed by his ability to explain how and why things happened and his own justifications for actions taken.

As a bond market participant with a front seat on the financial crisis I enjoyed reading TOO BIG TO FAIL. But one of the most frustrating aspects of that book was its strict reportorial nature - it explained what happened minute to minute but provided no real analysis of why and what it all meant. This book exactly goes to the places I found missing in TOO BIG TO FAIL and that is the most satisfying part of the book for me.

Geithner's willingness to say exactly what he thinks when so much of what he did is politically unpopular with so many on both sides of the US political divide is the most addictive part of this listening adventure. I can only stop listening long enough to write this review. I very highly recommend it to those who value Geithner's perspective on earlier crises as well as the 2008 Financial Crisis and his tenure as the first Secretary of the Treasury for the Obama Administration.

A worthwhile listen with some weaknesses

A very interesting listen with lots of recollections and insights of a person who was in the thick of the financial crisis.

Tim gives the listener a good understanding of where he came from and his financial crisis experience. All of those aspects of the book are excellent. For me there are two main "problems" with the book. The first being Tim's unserious and completely dismissive attitude toward complaints of the policies that led to the crisis. He basically says in a single sentence that people complained but they are wrong. Done. No more analysis needed. WRONG. In my opinion the long-term, non-crisis mode, policies that he advocates are fundamental to creating the crisis from the start and he seems to display no insight about it.

The second, and most serious, issue is how his constant personal ideological tilt has clearly corrupted all of his analysis. He constantly calls himself an independent and non political while throughout the book he makes it clear that to him Democrat=good and Republican=bad. the descriptions he uses for oppositional ideas are very childish and the motives he ascribes to anyone holding those ideas are badly skewed to the diabolical.

In the final analysis I definitely recommend the book. Especially if you can filter out the constant nasty political commentary. The book does yield interesting insights into the banking and financial system, government oversight, and their choices for managing the financial crisis.

Long but good

Politics aside, this was a great book in my eyes. It kinda of look at what I did type of book, but not in an arrogant sort of way. Geithner is very self depricating, and gives his honest take on how he saw things.

I enjoyed getting the clarification on certain events that occurred during the financial crisis that at the time I remembered thinking "why did that happen" He did a very good job at explaining the nuts and bolts of the process and the actual powers that each department actually has and had. Keep an open mind and politics out of it and you will enjoy this book.

An Excellent Education

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

Yes, it paints the story of the most recent recession from the inside. If you want to know the why and how of the economics of crises development and strategies for resolution this book is a must read.

What was the most compelling aspect of this narrative?

Viewing the development and response from the inside.

Have you listened to any of Timothy F. Geithner’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

No. He is good for a non-professional.

If you could give Stress Test a new subtitle, what would it be?

View from the inside.

Any additional comments?

A long narrative, sometimes without date markers to remind the listener where in time the narration takes place. Despite being an Obama appointee Geithner is fairly even handed in his treatment of the Bush administration. He is hard on the political process especially "Tea Party" republicans. However, it is well worth reading and a real education in crises management.

Refreshing

It's refreshing to see the perspective of the government as opposed to the press'. I especially appreciated the narratives of what was going on inside the White house at the time.

A look inside Fed/Treasury's crisis management

I consider it a perfect read after taking courses like "analyses of financial crises" and "understanding central banks" (or courses of the like). It was interesting to listen to how the history unraveled yet surprisingly the last chapter was a concise and thoughtful summary. If you can listen to one chapter only, go for the last one. Overall, I loved it and applaud for their work in containing the crisis to a level much more manageable than it otherwise would have become.

Indispensable.

Indispensable narrative about the GFC and the counterintuitive methods that you need to fight crises of confidence.

It’s also a pretty disturbing reminder of how misunderstood the GFC continues to be.

Credible analysis of the 2008 crisis

Even though this book had received favorable reviews I was skeptical. Surely, I thought, Geitner would give a politicized, self-serving, and boring account of the events that lead to the 2008 crisis as well as the aftermath when he was one of the key figures. I was therefore pleasantly surprised by Geitner’s willingness to describe the dilemmas and the decision processes, including the mistakes that the FED made in the years preceding the crisis. For example, Geitner openly admits that the FED did receive hints that sub-prime mortgages were a potential risk in the economy, and that (in retrospect) they ought to have payed more attention to them. Geitner compares this situation with what happened before 9/11, saying that it is easy to say which warnings one should have attended to, after the disaster. Still, I never got the impression that Geitner was trying to cleanse away blame. He depicts himself as merely a hard working civil servant who does his best to serve his nation, and sometimes fails to make the best decision.

Geitner’s modest nature is also apparent when he describes his childhood. He says that he was not an exceptionally bright child, and that he was also lazy during his time in school and university. He also says he has always preferred to work in the background, and still does. The reason Geitner still ended up as head of one of the most influential offices in the world is, it seems, that he is good at working with other people and not afraid to say what he thinks, even to his superiors. People like Larry Sommers, could rely on the fact that Tim would tell them if he though a particular strategy was good or bad, and that seems to be a rare thing in those circumstances.

Geitner spends much of the book trying to explain what caused the financial crisis as well as how to handle such a crisis. Often there is a clash between what the public demands and what is good for the economy. When bank employees are getting large bonuses and banks are making profits after their actions has endangered the economy, the public often wants to see blood. They certainly do not want the government to go in and save such irresponsible individuals. Still, at least according to Geitner, that is exactly what needs to be done in some cases. It is either that or risking a far greater economic depression. In the light of this Geitner also criticises how the European Union has handled Greece. According to Geitner it is in general better to give them lots of money to get their economy up to speed. Instead the Germans are forcing the Greek citizens to save money. I am not an expert in these matters and I cannot tell whether Geitner is right, but it was interesting to hear his arguments.

Overall, this book will provide the reader with an in depth description of the events that lead to the 2008 economic crisis as well as the crisis itself, by a man who was right in the middle of the storm.

Best book about the Great Recession

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

I never read the print version

Who was your favorite character and why?

Timothy Geithner of course

What three words best describe Timothy F. Geithner’s performance?

Honest, Passionate, Humble

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

No

Any additional comments?

If you do not have an MBA already this may be a bit tough to follow. He goes from monetary policy to Banking Balance Sheets to US politics very quickly.

Well done Tim!

Thorough well taught through book of the financial crisis. Key take away stick to your values, and do what you believe in.