First published 2020
Timothy Geithner watches global markets spiral toward catastrophe as Lehman Brothers crumbles in September 2008. The Treasury Secretary faces an impossible choice: let the financial system collapse or deploy untested emergency measures that could reshape American capitalism forever. Alongside Federal Reserve officials and banking regulators, Geithner navigates a maze of political pressure, economic theory, and raw panic as credit markets freeze worldwide. Each decision carries enormous risk. Bailout the banks and face public fury. Let them fail and trigger another Great Depression. Working around the clock, these financial first responders debate radical solutions while stock markets plummet and unemployment soars. Geithner must balance competing demands from Congress, Wall Street, and foreign governments as he crafts policies that will either save or doom the global economy. The story reveals how split-second choices during those critical months determined the fate of millions of Americans and reshaped financial regulation for decades.
Genres: business, economics, 21st-century, finance, academic, american-history
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: high-stakes, insider-perspective
Setting: United States
Period: 2007-2009
624 pages · Hardcover · Yale University Press