Dumb Money: How Our Greatest Financial Minds Bankrupted the Nation |  | Author: Daniel Gross
Publisher: Free Press
List Price: $9.99
Buy New: $3.18
as of 11/22/2009 01:33 CST details
You Save: $6.81 (68%)
New (4) Used (4) from $3.15
Seller: vana11
Rating:  12 reviews
Sales Rank: 95299
Format: Bargain Price
Media: Paperback
Pages: 112
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 8.2 x 5.4 x 0.3
Dewey Decimal Number: 338.542
ASIN: B002QGSXH8
Publication Date: April 14, 2009
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
| |
| Also Available In:
|
| Similar Items:
| |
| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
The financial crisis that has gripped this country since last September has had so many twists and turns, it would make for a great drama -- if it all were not so real and damaging. Companies are shutting down and laying off workers, 401ks are melting away, and the government is spending $700 billion dollars to bail out banks and financial institutions -- and that's only the beginning. The financial services industry, and the many industries that depend on it -- from housing to cars -- is in intensive care. So what happened? How did we get to this point of financial disaster? Is the economy just a huge, Madoff-esque Ponzi scheme? It is a complicated and confusing story -- but Daniel Gross of Newsweek has a special gift for making complicated matters easy to understand and even entertaining. In Dumb Money, he offers a guide to the debacle and to what the future may hold. This is not so much a book about who did what, though that's part of the story. Rather, it pieces together the building blocks of the debt-fueled economy, and distills the theory and personalities behind our late, lamented easy money culture. Dumb Money is a book that finally lays it all out in an engaging way, and might just help people invest their money smartly until the gloom passes.
|
| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 12
 Interesting and Entertaining - November 16, 2009
Loyd E. Eskildson (Phoenix, AZ.)
Recently I read a Newsweek column by Daniel Gross documenting that U.S. private employment today is less than in 2000, despite population having grown 9%. That bit of basic insight led me to read his "Dumb Money" about how the Ownership Society quickly degenerated into the Bailout Nation during the same time period. The book is short (101 paperback-sized pages), interesting (even entertaining), yet comprehensive, covering all the decade's financial 'stars' - Ben Bernanke - keeping interest rates low, continuing Greenspan's rosy forecasts), Christopher Cox (ineffectual SEC head), Alan Greenspan (keeping interest rates too low for too long, lobbying for deregulation, blindly following philosopher Ayn Rand instead of economic data and theorists), Edward Lambert (acquired K-Mart and Sears early in the decade, then spent $4.9 billion to buy back shares at an average $118 - now $70), Richard Fuld (named a #1 CEO by Institutional Investor magazine in 2006, received a $22 million bonus in 2007, and then watched the 28,000+ firm Lehman Brothers collapse in a market-terrorizing bankruptcy in 2008), Angelo Mozilo (making mortgages available to almost everyone in his pursuit of #1 market share), Henry Paulson (a latecomer to the crisis, he then created a bailout for the institutions that created the crisis), Robert Rubin (lobbyist for deregulation, Citibank board member while sailed into a major government rescue), John Thain (CEO NYSE from 2004-2007, paid $83,785,021 in 2007 - mostly by his not-yet employer Merrill Lynch, requested a $10 million 2008 bonus for 'saving' Merrill by selling it to Bank of America for $28 billion + $20 billion in government money, spent $1.22 million in 2008 corporate funds to renovate two conference rooms, a reception area, and his office, and was fired in January, 2009), the fine folks (both legislators and regulators) behind the Community Reinvestment Act, and countless financial geniuses that bought up every exotic three-letter financial instrument, company M&A or LBO, and mirage within sight.
Gross even managed to 'share the blame' (sarcastically) with China for our low interest rate-fueled housing bubble. Institutional players involved and included in Gross' accounting included insurance giant AIG, banks, bond rating agencies, builders, Congress (bought, paid-for, and asleep), Fannie-Mae and Freddie-Mac (repeatedly raised their loan limits, allowing the bubble to keep inflating), mortgage originators, and the shadow bankers. Dumb money players were not limited to the private sector - California and the U.S. government also were major participants, followed by New York, New Jersey, Illinois, etc. - all but North Dakota, Wyoming, Montana and Alaska. And none of this could have happened without the little people (you and I) who bought ARMs, balloons, HELOCs, liar's loans, and no-down loans by the millions and then got stuck with them after the crash; regardless, we're all paying now for the private and public sector bailouts, along with our children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, etc.
Gross' Recommendations? Outlaw stupidity, and create some sort of fiscal lithium (sprayed over Wall Street?) for starters. Gross is not enthusiastic about more regulation (too easy to get around). Perhaps a tax on securities trading and the creation of structured financial products to be used to help cover future messes.
 Breezy but superficial look at the ongoing financial crisis September 3, 2009
David F. Nolan (Tucson, AZ United States)
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
"Dumb Money" is an easy-to-read account of how greed, ignorance, and wishful thinking combined to produce the great economic bubble of 2004-2007 and how it all fell apart in 2008. It is entertaining and somewhat informative, but the author glosses over (or ignores) the role that the Federal Government and the Federal Reserve Bank played in creating this speculative binge. He makes it sound like greedy Wall Street types were the prime villains, and while the financial industry certainly was a key player, the push for "easy money" from Republican and (mostly) Democratic politicians is barely discussed or brushed aside. Overall, "Dumb Money" has a rushed quality; it reads like a collection of pop-journalism pieces rushed into print to cash in on the desire to understand what caused the mess we are in. The paper it is printed on is cheap, which adds to the "quick and dirty" feel of the book. For a better explanation of what happened, I would recommend "Meltdown" by Tom Woods.
A short description and the main Lesson Learned: It will happen again June 6, 2009
andris virsnieks (Seattle, WA USA)
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
No table of contents. No index. A rush job to the printer. But it could be just right for you if you are looking for a condensed version of this historic financial disaster. The booklet is only about 100 pages long and should not take more time to read than a Newsweek magazine. The author urges investors to be smarter. His contribution to reducing the amount of dumb money out there (is that a euphemism for dumb people with money?). But he also believes that Wall Street will always find ways around all regulations. "Bubbles speak to something innate in the American psyche." It will happen again. The details will be different there will be new players and we can't prevent it.
Should be required reading for MBA students June 4, 2009
Steven Gardberg
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
After seeing the author speak a few weeks ago, I am enjoying this deeper dive into his topic of passion. It presents a three-pronged analysis that is neither silly nor pretentious. I look forward to finishing the book quickly, sharing with friends and buying as gifts. Also, this should be required reading for MBA students, providing them (and maybe alumni like me) a healthy perspective or dose of reality.
 Reads like an amateur blog June 2, 2009
M. whitton (leesburg, va)
11 out of 13 found this review helpful
This book, which promises much, delivers little. It is written in a general easy to read tone like a long blog by a skilled amateur blogger. It has little insight, few facts, and much personal opinion. You probably already know more about the financial crisis than you will learn from this book.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 12
|
|
|
|
