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    On the Brink: Inside the Race to Stop the Collapse of the Global Financial System
    Unavailable
    On the Brink: Inside the Race to Stop the Collapse of the Global Financial System
    Unavailable
    On the Brink: Inside the Race to Stop the Collapse of the Global Financial System
    Audiobook15 hours

    On the Brink: Inside the Race to Stop the Collapse of the Global Financial System

    Written by Henry M. Paulson

    Narrated by Dan Woren

    3.5/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    When Hank Paulson, the former CEO of Goldman Sachs, was appointed in 2006 to become the nation's next Secretary of the Treasury, he knew that his move from Wall Street to Washington would be daunting and challenging.

    But Paulson had no idea that a year later, he would find himself at the very epicenter of the world's most cataclysmic financial crisis since the Great Depression. Major institutions including Bear Stearns, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Lehman Brothers, AIG, Merrill Lynch, and Citigroup, among others-all steeped in rich, longstanding tradition-literally teetered at the edge of collapse. Panic ensnared international markets. Worst of all, the credit crisis spread to all parts of the U.S. economy and grew more ominous with each passing day, destroying jobs across America and undermining the financial security millions of families had spent their lifetimes building.

    This was truly a once-in-a-lifetime economic nightmare. Events no one had thought possible were happening in quick succession, and people all over the globe were terrified that the continuing downward spiral would bring unprecedented chaos. All eyes turned to the United States Treasury Secretary to avert the disaster.

    This, then, is Hank Paulson's first-person account. From the man who was in the very middle of this perfect economic storm, ON THE BRINK is Paulson's fast-paced retelling of the key decisions that had to be made with lightning speed. Paulson puts the reader in the room for all the intense moments as he addressed urgent market conditions, weighed critical decisions, and debated policy and economic considerations with of all the notable players-including the CEOs of top Wall Street firms as well as Ben Bernanke, Timothy Geithner, Sheila Bair, Nancy Pelosi, Barney Frank, presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain, and then-President George W. Bush.

    More than an account about numbers and credit risks gone bad, ON THE BRINK is an extraordinary story about people and politics-all brought together during the world's impending financial Armageddon.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHachette Audio
    Release dateFeb 1, 2010
    ISBN9781600249143
    Unavailable
    On the Brink: Inside the Race to Stop the Collapse of the Global Financial System

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    Reviews for On the Brink

    3.5/5

    59 ratings15 reviews

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    • 4/5
      Regardless of your political views, this is a compelling first person account of the 2008 financial crisis by a Bush Administration insider. One is left with the clear impression that then Treasury Secretary Paulson along with Fed Chairman Bernanke and NY Fed President Geithner were the architects of the rescue efforts. Paulson clearly enjoyed the complete confidence and support of then-President Bush, and it appears that even President (then candidate) Obama trusted him. Paulson's account reads like a thriller, although the reader knows the eventual outcome. Aside from being such a compelling read, it's must reading for anyone who wants to learn about the management of the crisis.
    • 4/5
      Mr. Paulson provides what may be the ultimate insider account of the 2008 financial crisis. It is a detailed, day-by-day account of how he experienced the situation. Written retrospectively (as opposed to from the perspective if a diarist) the telling of the events is clearly colored by the final outcome. The reader sees only a bit of the uncertainty that must have gripped the participants.However, Paulson does provide extensive non-obvious information about the complexity of the problems faced by government officials and financial leaders during the crisis. And he also provides detailed information about the variety of options explored during the search for solutions. For those with a deep interest in the crisis, this will be quite interesting, while others may find it dragging a bit.Paulson's treatment of the participants is generally kind and complimentary. The few criticisms are gently delivered and typically wrapped by balancing language. Paulson is especial respectful of President Bush, his meetings with the President are described only briefly and treated with notable confidentiality and described at a distance.A reader looking for an account that is critical of the administration's handling of the situation will be disappointed, as will one looking for a deep analysis of the causes of the crisis. This book picks up after the die had been cast. (Also, don't expect a financial primer, the reader will need to have a basic grasp of finance to get the most out of the book.)Overall, a very solid book, with page-turning driven by the gravity of the events it describes, rather than by the energy of the narrative..Disclosure: book was received via the LibraryThing Early Reviewers Program
    • 4/5
      I was surprised by the intricate detail of his recall of the events surrounding the financial crisis throughout this 478 page book. It was in his acknowledgements that he explained that he relied not only on his own recall, but more than 20 people with whom he consulted. One of the most striking cuts from the book: “I had come to Washington to make a difference, and we had, I thought, just saved the country – and the world – from financial catastrophe. The next day, Lehman Brothers began to collapse.” In fact, this was just the beginning of the financial crisis to come. The ins and outs of our financial system as well as our political system can be quite confusing. In On The Brink the former Treasury Secretary speaks in plain language and has a list of acronyms used in the text so that the reader understands clearly what the Secretary is writing about. It was quite disturbing at times to read about the power plays, the decisions to act without delay, and the information that was withheld from the American people. It was also disconcerting to read how the taxpayer’s money was being thrown around as if it was an unending spigot. Secretary Paulson speaks very highly of President Bush and many in Congress on both sides of the aisle. There is an amusing story of when Mr. Paulson’s cell phone went off at an inopportune time during a meeting with President Bush, a visiting head of state, and Condoleezza Rice. Not only could he not locate his phone, but it was his son calling to talk about sports. This is an interesting book of Mr. Paulson’s view of what happened during this terrible crisis.
    • 1/5
      Hank Paulson, as Sarah Palin called him in a telephone conversation, much to his dislike, has written a possibly very boring book, written in a conversational tone, which, indeed makes it readable. Having just read a lengthy review of the book in the Sunday New York Times, March 21, 2010, and being a watcher of CNN for the past several years, I feel i have very little to add. I am a reasonably intelligent person, but definitely not a close follower of Wall Street intrigue, I found the book to be most confusing because of my unfamiliarity with the players. And players there are--from all over the world--he even lists them at the beginning with a list of the myriad acronyms at the end! In short, I found the book very hard to comprehend and somewhat self serving. He dislikes Palin right off and says Obama did not speak to him at all after the election. There IS a hint of human interest. After all , he was a star football player at Dartmouth.
    • 3/5
      This book is exactly what it promises, a look inside the efforts of Hank Paulson and his colleagues to deal with the economic problems that began in late 2007. It is well-edited and reasonably well-written, but one may find one's eyes glazing over at the thick mix of acronyms and economics terms necessarily employed. While it is an interesting read, overall, this book is just depressing in the end. The fact that private entities could take the world economy so close to collapse without the knowledge of the public or of governments is scary enough, but the ad hoc, seat-of-the-pants manner in which government officials had to deal with the problem is terrifying.
    • 3/5
      It is impossible to tell how candid the author is in this book.The contention of the book is that he helped stop a complete collapse. He goes through some details about steps quickly taken to avert a bigger disaster.Why the disaster was so close? Why it wasn't apparent earlier? Those questions are largely unanswered. I suspect because as a cog in the great machine Paulson is unable to see how the contraption may be fundamentally flawed.
    • 2/5
      I'm not a financial expert, so I base my review for this on common knowledge acquired on the nightly news and on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. I tried very hard to be open minded, but several items struck me as incongruous in this description of the global meltdown purportedly averted by Paulson and friends.Minor complaints really: in the first chapter Paulson explains that he kept no notes, that phone records were inaccurate and that he simply has a really great memory. That may be, but I find it unusual in that when describing significant meetings, he spends more time detailing where the players sat and what they wore more than the content of the meeting. He also states that when an event was in question, he contacted parties involved to clarify what happened and when. Would they really tell him this? Had they nothing better to do? Would they honestly tell him details that were significant if he couldn't remember them himself? Human nature says that those sources may have taken the opportunity to self-edit anything unflattering to themselves or their political agenda.At all times he implies that only his secret trifecta with Ben Bernanke and Tim Geitner could have prevented the meltdown, but it seems secrecy was at the heart of the entire problem in the first place.Many times he comes off as partisan (he snipes at Obama), at a time when partisanship seems especially unwarranted. He is very much pro-Bush, which also struck me as self serving. He minimizes his time at Goldman Sachs, creating the very infrastructure that was perilously close to falling apart.My other gripe was that he couldn't seem to decide between documentary or memoir. It lost pace at times when he had to parenthetically describe his need for ten hours of sleep or what his children were up to. All the family photos seemed a strange addition....more charts and data explanations would have been more helpful and appropriate.
    • 3/5
      On the Brink provides a very detailed play-by-play of the global financial meltdown of 2008. From all the hubbub in the media, it has always been difficult for me to piece together the order of events that led up to and caused the melt-down. Paulson's writing style is very straight and to the point: he spares few words for embellishment, nor does he give great insight into his mental process while solving these difficult economic issues. He's cut and dry and calls the shots like he sees it. Most people you talk to perceive Paulson as a big coward who didn't help out the American people. Reading this book gave me great appreciation for how much work Paulson really did for the country (not to mention how little sleep he got in the process). He shows very little bias: he's someone who wants to get things done in the most efficient manner (this is somewhat reflected in his writing style). If you're a reader who's just looking for a retelling of the whole financial collapse in a chronological and mostly unbiased manner, give this book a try. I am not someone who is particularly adept at politics, so some of the interactions and name-dropping left me disoriented. If you're someone who likes rich embellishment and flowery detail, stay away from this book: you'll probably get bored really fast. Overall not bad for Paulson's first published book.
    • 4/5
      Former U. S. Treasury Secretary Paulson tells "the rest of the story" about the race to save the U.S. from the Great Recession looming over us in 2008/2009. Paulson, who was Treasury Secretary at the time; Tim Geithner, now Treasury Secretary, but then head of New York's Federal Reserve; and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernacke worked tirelessly to try to keep us from a Depression. Having read David Wessel's "In Fed We Trust" about Bernacke first, I already knew much of the saga here, but was glad to read another point of view. I must say, Wessel's book made the economic decisions discussed here a little easier to understand, and there's some tough slogging in places, but a little re-reading will usually resolve any questions. Recommended for anyone wondering how we got to where we are today, economically.
    • 3/5
      A nice read. But, from my perspective, Tim’s book was way more clearer in many aspects.
    • 4/5
      Secretary Paulson's work provides an incredible insight into the financial crisis that plagued his tenure as Treasury Secretary. There's an incredible wealth of information in this book, which is packaged in an easy-to-read manner. 5/5 for clarity in an incredibly dense and complicated subject.

      However, if there is any book that will convince you of elite power in America, it is this one. Paulson makes a convincing case for the reasons behind his actions and those of his associates, but it doesn't wash away the stink of bailout and corporate welfare. Paulson does glance over some discussion of moral hazard and bailout, but not in substantial depth. When you read this book (assuming you aren't an investment banker), it will be difficult to swallow the casual-ness in the discussion between Paulson and bank CEOs regarding how these organizations catastrophically screw up and are lifted up at the expense of the taxpayer. I don't hold this against the book at all - in truth, I commend Paulson for being honest in his approach. He does offer some thoughts towards the end regarding the sheer impossibility of his situation, and will make you question whether or not other options were truly viable. For Paulson, the alternative of systemic bank failure would contribute to total global financial meltdown.
    • 3/5
      I decided to request this book via LibraryThing’s Early Reviewers program because I wanted to understand the current economic meltdown better than I did, and I didn’t want to pay for a book by one of the people who helped create the conditions for the meltdown. I don’t like what Henry Paulsen and his ilk have done to this country: take advantage of the worst aspects of unfettered capitalism, resulting in the economic problems we now have, and then scaring the everyone into thinking that the taxpayers should bail out his company and others as the way to save the economy.I wanted to read his side of the story. In “On the Brink,” he discusses the day-to-day decisions that arose during the last months of the Bush administration, but there is little about the philosophy of greed that got us into this mess in the first place. I winced whenever he wrote about the nice vacations he went on and thought of people who are now unemployed, losing their homes, etc., living on the streets – they could never afford any of the places Paulsen visited to get away from Washington, DC. The book is somewhat interesting in that I did get to see some of the behind-the-scenes process. But I really can’t recommend this book, since it is a component of a cover-your-ass strategy more than anything else, and it’s long and dry if you’re not very interested in the subject matter. I’ll donate my copy to the public library so someone else can read it without having to pay for it.
    • 4/5
      Disclosure: The author was once my boss, although there is no prospect he'd ever have known that. I was a mere halfling among 25,000. Consequent additional disclosure: by dint of said employment, once upon a time I suppose I helped, in a small way, "the Vampire Squid jam its blood funnel into anything that smelled like money", as it was so enchantingly put in a celebrated Rolling Stone article. It didn't feel like that's what I was doing at the time. Honestly.Now: seeing as it is perhaps the defining socio-economic and political sequence of events since the Second World War: the-near-collapse-of-the-Western-Capitalist-system-as-we-know-it; the horrifying few months triggered by (but not really including) 2007's "Credit Crunch", which brought down Bear Stearns, Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch, AIG, Washington Mutual and ran such veritable institutions as Morgan Stanley and even the dear old Vampire Squid itself close, it's odd that it doesn't have a convenient label. So let's call it "The Meltdown". There have been many - and are sure to be many more - rip-snorter accounts of The Meltdown (my favourite, present company excepted, being Andrew Sorkin's Too Big to Fail) but most suffer, at the limit, from the need for well-intended guesswork. For this was a crisis of momentous actions taken by a few individuals and went on largely discreetly and behind securely closed doors. Any journalist, no matter how good her sources, is forced into educated speculation or must rely on hearsay for the vital exchanges. After all, who said what to whom is the real story of our Close Brush With Apocalypse. I say most accounts of the Meltdown suffer this failing; this one doesn't: If ever someone were placed to write the definitive account of the near-detonation of the capitalist system as we know it, it is Henry J. Paulson Jnr., 74th secretary to the U.S. Treasury. In pretty much every significant exchange, Paulson was there; in most cases creating it. Prior to assuming that role in 1996, Hank Paulson was CEO of the good old Vampire Squid (did I say Vampire Squid? I meant "Pre-Eminent Global Investment Bank"), Goldman Sachs for a decade leading up to The Meltdown. As is the habit of Goldman high executives, on 2006 - when all was peachy - Paulson did the decent thing in the name of "public service", stopped poaching and turned game keeper. If he had had any inkling of what was coming down I dare say he would have run for the hills. As it was, he accepted the role only reluctantly. Though it seems odd to say it, we should all be thankful that he didn't, and therefore didn't. Paulson's unique expertise, integrity and idiosyncratic personality may just have made the difference. It was a pretty scary couple of months. It really could have gone thermonuclear.About that idiosyncratic personality. For a certified Master of the Universe (and a boss, as a matter of fact), Hank Paulson was - and is - a singular and peculiarly likeable man, and this book is very much in keeping with his bluff demeanour: not cut from anything like the same schmoove-schmoozing lounge suit cloth as his contemporaries, Paulson, a gruff, hoarse, angular figure who wears a Casio watch, eschews medicine on faith grounds (other than an obligatory plastic cup of diet coke at breakfast), genuinely cares about the environment (resorting to "birding" with his wife at all conceivable opportunities, including for a half hour before dinner at Camp David, which makes for (unintended) comic relief in an otherwise pretty grim book). He's no politician, either - his lifelong blunt directness often ruffling the carefully coiffured plumages of the political classes. Charm being so important on Wall Street and Capitol Hill, it does make you wonder how Paulson got anywhere near as far as he did, but his social cack-handedness is charming in its way, and on at least three other vital scores Paulson has a very long suit: integrity, intelligence and experience. Paulson's candid assessment of his own social awkwardness navigating the tricky waters of Capitol Hill is disarming.This is a great account of The Meltdown and in the abstract it has much to recommend it. Were it not for the competition, I'd recommend it unhesitatingly. Its misfortune is to pale, as a piece of writing and narrative, in comparison with the excellent Too Big To Fail. So, if you were going to read one (and only the truly dedicated would need more than that), I would read Sorkin's book. The irony is that (seeing that Paulson largely validates Sorkin's narrative) only by Paulson's book's existence is Sorkin's rendered fully credible. Now I'm confused, but I think I know what I mean, and hope you do too.
    • 4/5
      I was surprised by the intricate detail of his recall of the events surrounding the financial crisis throughout this 478 page book. It was in his acknowledgements that he explained that he relied not only on his own recall, but more than 20 people with whom he consulted. One of the most striking cuts from the book: “I had come to Washington to make a difference, and we had, I thought, just saved the country – and the world – from financial catastrophe. The next day, Lehman Brothers began to collapse.” In fact, this was just the beginning of the financial crisis to come. The ins and outs of our financial system as well as our political system can be quite confusing. In On The Brink the former Treasury Secretary speaks in plain language and has a list of acronyms used in the text so that the reader understands clearly what the Secretary is writing about. It was quite disturbing at times to read about the power plays, the decisions to act without delay, and the information that was withheld from the American people. It was also disconcerting to read how the taxpayer’s money was being thrown around as if it was an unending spigot. Secretary Paulson speaks very highly of President Bush and many in Congress on both sides of the aisle. There is an amusing story of when Mr. Paulson’s cell phone went off at an inopportune time during a meeting with President Bush, a visiting head of state, and Condoleezza Rice. Not only could he not locate his phone, but it was his son calling to talk about sports. This is an interesting book of Mr. Paulson’s view of what happened during this terrible crisis.
    • 4/5
      I'm a little over halfway through this book right now. So far it's been a worthwhile read. I admit to not being financially smart enough to understand all the jargon/finance/economic talk that Paulson engages in (although he tries not to), but the book's still readable despite it. It's refreshing to have what is a rather honest and open account of his times—Paulson calls it like he sees it, not protecting Republicans, or refusing to acknowledge important Democrats. He's loyal to the president, but not blindly so. Some of the more interesting revelations, I thought, was how intimately involved Tim Geithner was in the process; how much Paulson and Obama spoke; how Sarah Palin had no understanding of the financial crisis; how Barney Frank was on the spot, but Chris Dodd wasn't; and how Bush really gave Paulson a lot of leeway. If you're interested in the financial crisis or domestic political scene, I would recommend this book. It's not written particularly well, but it's still quite enjoyable.