To Big to Fail?

Last month I read Too Big to Fail by Andrew Sorkin. A very interesting book that tells the story of the so-called battle to save Wall Street.

I was surprised at how active Tim Geitner (President of the New York Fed), Hank Paulson (Secretary of the Treasury) were in forcing Wall Street banks into takeovers and mergers. They often dictated the price and other conditions for enormous transactions, despite giving the impression they were making the program up as they went along.

The other message that comes through clearly in the book is that the CEOs of most large Wall St finance houses did not have a clue about the level of risk that they were carrying.

The book is promoted as the "inside story," but seems more like a vehicle for self-justification by clever people who should have known better.