Reviews
Of all the major books I've read on the financial crisis, this one is the very best at showing the dysfunctional inner workings of the unholy alliance between Wall Street and Washington, D.C., [Barofsky] set out to account for the TARP spending in a transparent, nonpartisan manner. However, as he demonstrates in his energetically written first-person account, he and his staff met resistance every time they tried to share the truth with Congress, the White House and the American public... a courageous, insightful book that offers no cause for optimism., "[Barofsky] set out to account for the TARP spending in a transparent, nonpartisan manner. However, as he demonstrates in his energetically written first-person account, he and his staff met resistance every time they tried to share the truth with Congress, the White House and the American public… a courageous, insightful book that offers no cause for optimism." - Kirkus (starred review), In his scathing new book, Barofsky says taxpayers got shafted while the rich got richer... a true expose.... Taxpayers who feel helpless in the midst of the extended economic recession are likely to feel energized to metaphorically blow up the system after reading Barofsky's account., [Barofsky] set out to account for the TARP spending in a transparent, nonpartisan manner. However, as he demonstrates in his energetically written first-person account, he and his staff met resistance every time they tried to share the truth with Congress, the White House and the American public… a courageous, insightful book that offers no cause for optimism., In Bailout , [Barofsky] gives a detailed account of just how far-reaching, and how much, the corruption spread., [Barofsky] set out to account for the TARP spending in a transparent, nonpartisan manner. However, as he demonstrates in his energetically writtenfirst-person account, heand his staff met resistance every time they tried to share the truth withCongress, the White House and the American public... a courageous, insightful book that offers no cause for optimism., [Neil Barofsky is] a born writer…. Bailout is a kind of Alice in Wonderland tale of an ordinary, sane person disappearing down into a realm of hallucinatory dysfunction, with Tim Geithner playing the role of the Mad Hatter and Barofsky the increasingly frustrated Alice who realizes he's stuck at the stupidest tea party he ever was at… wry… morbidly funny… one of the best., "[An] everyman account of the pervasive cynicism and insider-dealing of the D.C. establishment." - The American Spectator, [Barofsky] set out to account for the TARP spending in a transparent, nonpartisan manner. However, as he demonstrates in his energetically written first-person account, he and his staff met resistance every time they tried to share the truth with Congress, the White House and the American public... a courageous, insightful book that offers no cause for optimism., In Bailout , [Barofsky] gives a detailed account of just how far-reaching, and how much, the corruption spread., Bailout is a jaw-dropping play-by-play of how the Treasury Department bungled the financial bailouts… With a prosecutor's logic and copious footnotes, Barofsky makes it clear things are rarely what they seem in Washington., "[One] of our favorite business books so far this year…The former special inspector general policing the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program lifts the lid on the U.S. Treasury and settles scores… [an] illuminating memoir." - Bloomberg Businessweek, [Barofsky] unleashes a blistering attack on President Barack Obama's Treasury Department and its management of government bailout programs., "A damning indictment of the Obama administration's execution of the TARP program." - Washington Examiner, [One] of our favorite business books so far this year…The former special inspector general policing the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program lifts the lid on the U.S. Treasury and settles scores… [an] illuminating memoir., [ Bailout ] is an interesting behind-the-scenes account of how Washington tried to save the economy... [and] an enjoyable tale of how a prosecutor of Colombian drug gangs got drafted for the thankless task of policing a $700 billion bailout from a dank basement office of the Treasury., [ Bailout ] isan interesting behind-the-scenes account of how Washington tried to save the economy… [and] an enjoyable tale of how a prosecutor of Colombian drug gangs got drafted for the thankless task of policing a $700 billion bailout from a dank basement office of the Treasury., "[ Bailout ] isan interesting behind-the-scenes account of how Washington tried to save the economy… [and] an enjoyable tale of how a prosecutor of Colombian drug gangs got drafted for the thankless task of policing a $700 billion bailout from a dank basement office of the Treasury." - Fortune, [One] of our favorite business books so far this year...The former special inspector general policing the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program lifts the lid on the U.S. Treasury and settles scores... [an] illuminating memoir., "In his scathing new book, Barofsky says taxpayers got shafted while the rich got richer… a true expose…. Taxpayers who feel helpless in the midst of the extended economic recession are likely to feel energized to metaphorically blow up the system after reading Barofsky's account." - St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Bailout is a jaw-dropping play-by-play of how the Treasury Department bungled the financial bailouts... With a prosecutor's logic and copious footnotes, Barofsky makes it clear things are rarely what they seem in Washington., "[An] explosive account of the mishandling of the Troubled Asset Relief Program funds." - Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Bailout is a jaw-dropping play-by-play of how the Treasury Department bungled the financial bailouts... With a prosecutor's logic and copious footnotes, Barofsky makes it clear things are rarely what they seem in Washington., Bailout is a jaw-dropping play-by-play of how theTreasury Departmentbungled the financial bailouts... With a prosecutor's logic and copious footnotes, Barofsky makes it clear things are rarely what they seem in Washington., In his scathing new book, Barofsky says taxpayers got shafted while the rich got richer… a true expose…. Taxpayers who feel helpless in the midst of the extended economic recession are likely to feel energized to metaphorically blow up the system after reading Barofsky's account., " Bailout is a jaw-dropping play-by-play of how the Treasury Department bungled the financial bailouts… With a prosecutor's logic and copious footnotes, Barofsky makes it clear things are rarely what they seem in Washington." - USA Today, "Blistering in its assessment of the Treasury Department's handling of the bailouts." - Huffington Post
Synopsis
" Bailout is a jaw-dropping play-by-play of how the Treasury Department bungled the financial bailouts...With a prosecutor's logic and copious footnotes, Barofsky makes it clear that things are rarely what they seem in Washington."-- USA TODAY At the height of the financial crisis in 2008, Neil Barofsky gave up his job as a prosecutor in the esteemed US Attorney's Office in New York City, where he had convicted drug kingpins, Wall Street executives, and perpetrators of mortgage fraud, to become the inspector general in charge of overseeing administration of the bailout money. From the onset, his efforts to protect against fraud and to hold big banks accountable for how they spent taxpayer money were met with outright hostility from Treasury officials in charge of the bailouts. In this bracing, page-turning account Barofsky offers an insider's perspective on the mishandling of the $700 billion TARP (Troubled Asset Relief Program) bailout fund. With vivid behind-the-scenes detail, he reveals the extreme lengths to which our government officials were willing to go in order to serve the interests of Wall Street firms at the expense of the broader public--and at the expense of effective financial reform. Bailout is a riveting account of Barovsky's plunge into the political meat grinder of Washington, as well as a vital revelation of just how captured by Wall Street our political system is and why the too-big-to-fail banks have become even bigger and more dangerous in the wake of the crisis., In this bracing, page-turning account of his stranger-than-fiction baptism into the corrupted ways of Washington, Neil Barofsky offers an irrefutable indictment, from an insider of the Bush and Obama administrations, of the mishandling of the £700 billion bailout fund. In vivid behind-the-scenes detail, he reveals proof of the extreme degree to which the US government officials bent over backward to serve the interests of Wall Street firms at the expense of the broader public - and at the expense of effective financial reform.
