Too Big To Fail

As the 2008 financial crisis unfolded, the media, in particular, characterized the activities of the big banks as helping Wall Street at the expense of Main Street, which “exasperated” (32) some of the key players, including Richard Fuld. Congressmen also picked up that theme in the hearings related to the crisis, asking why people on Wall Street should be bailed out while “people on Main Street struggle to pay their mortgages” (69). This type of reference could backfire at times: Paulson used it during the hearings on TARP and Barney Frank thought it was “disingenuous” (446) of him.

Without using that phrase, other key players demonstrated that this characterization might not be far from the truth. For example, Fleming of Merrill Lynch noted that Paulson’s constituency was the US taxpayer, whereas his was “Merrill Lynch shareholders” (324). Likewise, Steel of Goldman Sachs described it as his job “to protect my shareholders” (480).

Throughout the book, Sorkin points out when warning signs were ignored for various reasons, such as hubris, management structure, or carelessness. He does not definitively argue that the crisis could have been prevented if these warnings had been heeded, but he makes every effort to point out when they were ignored.