Too Big to Fail - Andrew Ross Sorkin [333]
Government increasing Citigroup stake/funds: Eric Dash, “U.S. Agrees to Raise Its Stake in Citigroup,” New York Times, February 28, 2009.
“the turd in the punchbowl”: According to an undisclosed official’s handwritten notes taken during a conference call in January 2009. Michael R. Crittenden and Jon Hilsenrath, “Bernanke Blasted in House—Political Heat Mounts on Fed as Grilling Over BofA Shows Ire at Its Interventions,” Wall Street Journal, June 26, 2009.
Shareholders voting for BofA–Merrill deal: Ieva M. Augstums and Stephen Bernard, “Merrill Lynch, Bank of America Shareholders Approve BofA’s Purchase of the Investment Bank,” Associated Press, December 5, 2008.
“How do they justify this outrage…?”: Michael D. Shear and Paul Kane, “Anger Over Firm Depletes Obama’s Political Capital,” Washington Post, March 17, 2009.
“We should hound them in the supermarket”: A few days after Cramer’s rant, AIG’s new chief, Edward Liddy, sent him a letter demanding a retraction and an apology to AIG employees. “It is one thing to criticize the executive leadership of AIG—that’s fair commentary,” he wrote. “But it is way out of bounds to incite people to confront and harass other AIG employees.” Shortly after, Cramer apologized on his show: “Sorry regular AIG guys. I did not mean you.” Heidi N. Moore, “AIG CEO Demands Apology from Mad Money’s Jim Cramer,” WSJ/Deal Journal, October 20, 2008.
“Is Goldman Sachs Evil?” Joe Hagen, “Is Goldman Sachs Evil? Or Just too Good?” New York, July 26, 2009.
“great vampire squid wrapped”: Matt Taibbi, “The Great American Bubble Machine,” Rolling Stone, July 13, 2009.
Goldman producing profit of $5.2 billion: On April 13, Goldman reported net earnings of $1.81 billion for its first quarter. Three months later, its second quarter earnings soared to $3.44 billion. See http://www2.goldmansachs.com.
Goldman’s VaR rising to record high: Christine Harper, “Goldman Sachs VaR Reaches Record on Risks Led by Equity Trading,” Bloomberg, July 15, 2009.
“emergency actions meant to provide confidence”: Department of the Treasury press release, “Secretary Geithner Introduces Financial Stability Plan,” February 10, 2009. See http://www.treasury.gov/press/releases/tg18.htm.
ALAN BLINDER “After the fact, it is extremely clear that everything fell apart on the day Lehman went under.”
“I never once considered”: Stephen Labaton, “Wall St. in Worst Loss Since ’01 Despite Reassurances by Bush,” New York Times, September 16, 2008.
“We didn’t have the powers”: Joe Nocera and Edmund L. Andrews, “Struggling to Keep Up as the Crisis Raced on,” New York Times, October 22, 2008.
“At first, the Treasury”: Michael Lewis and David Einhorn, “The End of the Financial World as We Know It,” New York Times, January 4, 2009.
“policy by deal”: Simon Johnson, “Systemic Risk: Are Some Institutions Too Big to Fail and If So, What Should We Do About It?” Testimony before the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Financial Services during hearing held July 21, 2009.
“The problem in politics is this”: From a Barney Frank interview on CBS’s 60 Minutes that first aired on December 11, 2008.
“It is not the critic”: Theodore Roosevelt, “Citizenship in a Republic: ‘Man in the Arena.’” Speech at the Sorbonne, Paris, April 23, 1920.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Auletta, Ken. Greed and Glory on Wall Street: The Fall of the House of Lehman. New York: Random House, 1986.
Bagehot, Walter. Lombard Street: A Description of the Money Market. New York: Charles Scribner & Sons, 1897.
Chernow, Ron. Alexander Hamilton. New York: Penguin Press, 2004.
———. The House of Morgan: An American Banking Dynasty and the Rise of Modern Finance. New York: Grove Press, 2001.
Cohan, William D. House of Cards: A Tale of Hubris and Wretched Excess. New York: Random House, 2009.
———. The Last Tycoons: The Secret History of Lazard Frères & Co. New York: Doubleday, 2007.
Crisafulli,