MUST READS

Bull by the Horns: Fighting to Save Main Street from Wall Street and Wall Street from Itself

Bailout: An Inside Account of How Washington Abandoned Main Street While Rescuing Wall Street

Whenever Mr. Barofsky tried to ensure that banks were using TARP funds to make loans—the stated purpose of the programme—he was told that it would be impossible because ‘all money is green’

Yet the bankers themselves had no problem telling journalists how they planned to use the cheap capital to buy competitors or hoard cash for a rainy day.

Had it tried, the government could have solved this ‘co-ordination problem’—especially since FANNIE MAE and FREDDIE MAC, two government sponsored agencies that were created to support the growth of the American housing market, owned one-third of the toxic assets. But few cared.

Both books show that the OBAMA administration devoted much more energy and attention to helping WALL STREET than to stemming the foreclosure crisis, despite having been given TARP money to do so.

Ms. Bair recounts how the methodology used to calculate the ‘stress tests’ was cleverly altered so that CITI would keep its tax breaks. This resourcefulness was not applied to help keep people in their homes, however. The rules determining which mortgages would be modified were changed 9 times in the first year alone. A bigger problem was that these schemes were not designed with ordinary people in mind

She also believes that MR. GEITHNER, an appointed official, acted against the president’s wishes for years. This seems unlikely. Both books do something essential: they show the paths not taken. The financial crisis did not have to be so unfair.”