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theangrylawngnome's review
4.0
McGee does an excellent job in covering the extent to which government regulation failed, investment banks failed, and especially in discussing the psychology that moves the "masters of the universe" to willfully ignore the iceberg directly in front on them as they order their version of the Titanic to go full speed ahead. It is for these reasons that I give a four-star rating. And also her discussion regarding the rise of "Hedge Funds" and the impact these vehicles have had on more traditional banks, mutual funds and investment banks.
Unfortunately, I cannot say I was as impressed with her discussion of the housing "crisis" or of the sermon she offered at the end of the audio as to proposed solutions. And, perhaps rather curiously, the one area that seemed to get short shrift is how Goldman Sachs was simply smarter, has a corporate culture that is far less toxic to those who take "contrarian" views than that of most investment houses or whatever magic potion it was that made them do exactly what everyone else was NOT doing.
Still and all, both an informative and -- dare I say it -- entertaining listen.
Unfortunately, I cannot say I was as impressed with her discussion of the housing "crisis" or of the sermon she offered at the end of the audio as to proposed solutions. And, perhaps rather curiously, the one area that seemed to get short shrift is how Goldman Sachs was simply smarter, has a corporate culture that is far less toxic to those who take "contrarian" views than that of most investment houses or whatever magic potion it was that made them do exactly what everyone else was NOT doing.
Still and all, both an informative and -- dare I say it -- entertaining listen.
expendablemudge's review
4.0
Not to put too fine a point on it, but does the world *really* need another book about The Meltdown That Ate Our Jobs? Do we *really* have anything left to learn about these greedy so-and-sos whose pursuit of their own profits gifted us with a huge expansion of the Federal debt?
In a word, yes.
Suzanne McGee (a good friend of mine) assumes that her readers are smart, savvy, and plugged in, so she hits only the highlights of the WHAT about the crisis. Her brief, as the subtitle of the book "How the Masters of the Universe Melted Down Wall Street...and Why They'll Take Us to the Brink Again" makes clear, is analyzing and explaining WHY.
She does this in as honest and non-judmental a way as anyone could. She's not pointing fingers at one person per chapter, she's pointing up the systemic and cultural failings that, quite naturally and seemingly inevitably, led to a culture of no-risk gambling that permeated late twentieth century business. It took until the end of the Aughties for the chickens to come home to roost, but as they always do, they did. And who pays? All of us peons, that's who, which is exactly how the system is set up and remains set up to this day.
Her style is spare, unfussy, and dryly witty. Her story provides its own plot, so I can't say whether she's good at plotting. She knows how to give a telling detail! "'When {the New York Stock} Exchange is public, when people are willing to own it, it's a sign of a stable financial system, argues {a Canadian investment-firm billionaire}, who also owns stakes in publicly traded stock exchanges worldwide, from Europe to Latin America...The kind of push that come from shareholder-investors to become more competitive and efficient is the best way to make sure an organization is as effective as possible, he adds." (p137, ARC edition) This comes in a book that traces "efficiency" as the principal author of the megadisaster of 2008...and does anyone remember May 2010, when the "efficient" robo-trading powerslide of the Exchange caused systemic fantods?
McGee states, makes, and supports her points throughout this book with a lifetime's reportorial experience and a skeptic's "prove it" attitude. She's done the financially semi-literate a huge and signal service in writing this book. It's a good, involving, and deeply frightening read. Recommended to all who still think deregulation of any industry is a good idea.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
In a word, yes.
Suzanne McGee (a good friend of mine) assumes that her readers are smart, savvy, and plugged in, so she hits only the highlights of the WHAT about the crisis. Her brief, as the subtitle of the book "How the Masters of the Universe Melted Down Wall Street...and Why They'll Take Us to the Brink Again" makes clear, is analyzing and explaining WHY.
She does this in as honest and non-judmental a way as anyone could. She's not pointing fingers at one person per chapter, she's pointing up the systemic and cultural failings that, quite naturally and seemingly inevitably, led to a culture of no-risk gambling that permeated late twentieth century business. It took until the end of the Aughties for the chickens to come home to roost, but as they always do, they did. And who pays? All of us peons, that's who, which is exactly how the system is set up and remains set up to this day.
Her style is spare, unfussy, and dryly witty. Her story provides its own plot, so I can't say whether she's good at plotting. She knows how to give a telling detail! "'When {the New York Stock} Exchange is public, when people are willing to own it, it's a sign of a stable financial system, argues {a Canadian investment-firm billionaire}, who also owns stakes in publicly traded stock exchanges worldwide, from Europe to Latin America...The kind of push that come from shareholder-investors to become more competitive and efficient is the best way to make sure an organization is as effective as possible, he adds." (p137, ARC edition) This comes in a book that traces "efficiency" as the principal author of the megadisaster of 2008...and does anyone remember May 2010, when the "efficient" robo-trading powerslide of the Exchange caused systemic fantods?
McGee states, makes, and supports her points throughout this book with a lifetime's reportorial experience and a skeptic's "prove it" attitude. She's done the financially semi-literate a huge and signal service in writing this book. It's a good, involving, and deeply frightening read. Recommended to all who still think deregulation of any industry is a good idea.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
joesilverfox's review
I am sorry I didn't finish this book. It's not the writers fault, it's mine. I love books about Wall Street and Investment Banking. But, I'm on the side of Barbarians at the Gate and Liar's Poker. Book's that show the underhanded and dirty, loud mouthed sweary, excessively paid yuppie consumers and Porsches side of Wall Street, the Kids who complain if they don't get bonuses of $1million+ regardless of whats happening in the real world. Spoilt and entitled assholes who are in an industry that creates wealth mainly for the ringmasters and treats the players like Rubes to be taken whenever possible. And this book is a straight up and in depth explanation of just what has happened on Wall Street, of the companies constant striving for a ROI of 20% + regardless and how it went from being about the clients and fee's to products intended to bring in profits and buyer beware.
So, if you are looking for straight writing about Wall Street this book is probably a very good place to be, for me it's too grown up,
So, if you are looking for straight writing about Wall Street this book is probably a very good place to be, for me it's too grown up,
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