First published 2010
The 2008 financial crisis should have broken the power of Wall Street's biggest players. Instead, six megabanks now control over 60 percent of America's gross domestic product. Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, Wells Fargo, Goldman Sachs, and Morgan Stanley have grown larger and more dangerous than before the crash. Simon Johnson, former chief economist of the International Monetary Fund, traces how this financial oligarchy captured Washington and threatens another economic collapse. Johnson and co-author James Kwak examine past battles between democracy and concentrated wealth, from Thomas Jefferson's era through Franklin Roosevelt's presidency. They argue that Wall Street's political influence has created a system where banks profit during boom times but taxpayers absorb losses during busts. The authors propose breaking up these institutions to make them small enough to fail, restoring banking's role as an engine of economic growth rather than speculation.
Genres: business, political-science, economics, non-fiction, 21st-century
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: investigative-journalism, social-justice
Setting: America, Washington
Period: 2008
305 pages · Hardcover · Pantheon