Bailout: An Inside Account of How Washington Abandoned Main Street While Rescuing Wall Street Hardcover – July 24, 2012

by Neil Barofsky (Author)

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“Bailout is a jaw-dropping play-by-play of how the Treasury Department bungled the financial bailouts…With a prosecutor’s logic and copious footnotes, Barofsky makes it clear that things are rarely what they seem in Washington.”—USA TODAY

At the height of the financial crisis in 2008, Neil Barofsky gave up his job as a prosecutor in the esteemed US Attorney’s Office in New York City, where he had convicted drug kingpins, Wall Street executives, and perpetrators of mortgage fraud, to become the inspector general in charge of overseeing administration of the bailout money. From the onset, his efforts to protect against fraud and to hold big banks accountable for how they spent taxpayer money were met with outright hostility from Treasury officials in charge of the bailouts.

In this bracing, page-turning account Barofsky offers an insider’s perspective on the mishandling of the $700 billion TARP (Troubled Asset Relief Program) bailout fund. With vivid behind-the-scenes detail, he reveals the extreme lengths to which our government officials were willing to go in order to serve the interests of Wall Street firms at the expense of the broader public—and at the expense of effective financial reform.

Bailout is a riveting account of Barovsky’s plunge into the political meat grinder of Washington, as well as a vital revelation of just how captured by Wall Street our political system is and why the too-big-to-fail banks have become even bigger and more dangerous in the wake of the crisis.

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Print length

288 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Free Press
Publication date

July 24, 2012
Dimensions

6.25 x 1 x 9.5 inches
ISBN-10

1451684932
ISBN-13

978-1451684933
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Editorial Reviews

Review

“Bailout is a jaw-dropping play-by-play of how the Treasury Department bungled the financial bailouts… With a prosecutor's logic and copious footnotes, Barofsky makes it clear things are rarely what they seem in Washington.” (USA Today)

“[Bailout] isan interesting behind-the-scenes account of how Washington tried to save the economy… [and] an enjoyable tale of how a prosecutor of Colombian drug gangs got drafted for the thankless task of policing a $700 billion bailout from a dank basement office of the Treasury.” (Fortune)

“[An] everyman account of the pervasive cynicism and insider-dealing of the D.C. establishment.” (The American Spectator)

“[One] of our favorite business books so far this year…The former special inspector general policing the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program lifts the lid on the U.S. Treasury and settles scores… [an] illuminating memoir.” (Bloomberg Businessweek)

“A damning indictment of the Obama administration's execution of the TARP program.” (Washington Examiner)

“A quick, intense, read.” (Business Insider)

“[Barofsky] set out to account for the TARP spending in a transparent, nonpartisan manner. However, as he demonstrates in his energetically written first-person account, he and his staff met resistance every time they tried to share the truth with Congress, the White House and the American public… a courageous, insightful book that offers no cause for optimism.” (Kirkus (starred review))

“Blistering in its assessment of the Treasury Department's handling of the bailouts.” (Huffington Post)

“In his scathing new book, Barofsky says taxpayers got shafted while the rich got richer… a true expose…. Taxpayers who feel helpless in the midst of the extended economic recession are likely to feel energized to metaphorically blow up the system after reading Barofsky’s account.” (St. Louis Post-Dispatch)

“[An] explosive account of the mishandling of the Troubled Asset Relief Program funds.” (Fort Worth Star-Telegram)

“[Barofsky] unleashes a blistering attack on President Barack Obama’s Treasury Department and its management of government bailout programs.” (Politico)

“In Bailout, [Barofsky] gives a detailed account of just how far-reaching, and how much, the corruption spread.” (Publishers Weekly)

“Of all the major books I've read on the financial crisis, this one is the very best at showing the dysfunctional inner workings of the unholy alliance between Wall Street and Washington, D.C.” (Fool.com)

About the Author

Neil Barofsky served as the Special Inspector General in charge of overseeing TARP from December 2008 until March 2011. For eight years prior, he was a federal prosecutor in the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, during which time he headed the Mortgage Fraud Group. Currently, Neil Barofsky is a senior fellow at New York University School of Law. An alum of the University of Pennsylvania and the New York University School of Law, this is his first book.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Free Press; First Edition (July 24, 2012)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 288 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1451684932
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1451684933
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 15.2 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.25 x 1 x 9.5 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #380,440 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #196 in Government & Business
- #1,602 in U.S. Political Science
- #1,935 in Political Leader Biographies

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4.5 401 ratings

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L. Okarski

ACCOUNTABILITY, or lack thereof...

Reviewed in the United States on September 10, 2012

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Mr. Neil Barofsky cares too much. I gave him 5 stars for that reason alone. He's not like the people on the cover of his book. An attorney by schooling, a prosecutor for the US Attorney's Office, Southern District of New York, his job is to see nobody takes advantage of TARP funding. Problem is, Treasury is so loose with the money that it becomes obvious Hank Paulson is a Wall Street puppet, as is Tim Geithner. (Neel Kashkari is dumb, but smart enuf to have a great job/office). "Change the program? Don't buy troubled assets? Money for anything, so what if it disappears? We need to tell the taxpayers where it went? Why? Oh, its their money?" Neil Barofsky stepped into this mess obviously never reading THE CREATURE FROM JEKYLL ISLAND, by G. Edward Griffen. Otherwise he would have understood the situation perfectly.
Mr. Barofsky went above & beyond, when it comes to reporting, and the individual stories are awesome- he names characters and gives great details in chronological order. None of it surprised me; it only made me more nauseous: Geithner changed the name of TARP. It included GM & Chrysler's bailouts. AIG's $85 Billion too. (What, you didn't know this?). Barofsky stops short of judjment- he's laid out the facts and the Kindle version has active links to hundreds of references, just as you would expect a top-notch attorney to do. Great book, great facts, terrible fleecing of the taxpayer (my words, not his). The best part of the book? His wife's comments about narcissism and the Timothy Geithner. 2nd best part, T.G. again, this time as "Transparent MAN'. Rounding out the Top 5: The next 3 are all Barney Frank, in no particular order (this is where watching too much CNBC is a detriment. The writing and descriptive details of when Neil met with Mr. Frank are so vivid that I can SEE him- I can HEAR him- I'm in the room with them!) Very humorous yet so very serious, and yes Barney Frank is genuinely committed to fixing this situation. I wish there was an equally visual experience with the AIG bailout and how the Billions of USDollars flowed from TARP through to its "creditors" as another (unpublicized) bailout.
Thank you Mr. Neil Barofsky, not so much for writing this book, but for defending my interests as an US Taxpayer.
Great book, yes 5 Stars for the content also. Get it now on Kindle with the weblinks to every claim he makes.

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Christian R. Unger

The title tells you exactly what this book ends up revolving about, but it also covers the journey to get there

Reviewed in the United States on July 19, 2013

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This book is a first hand account of Neil Barofsky's work as the Inspector General overseeing the administration of the "Troubled Asset Relief Program" (aka TARP), which itself was started because of the Global Financial Crisis. Since Barofsky recounts events and his own actions this is obviously going to have a particular spin to it. Though that said, what's interesting here is that it does not read like he's glorifying himself, and even though he comes of as "the man" in many ways he is very generous in highlighting other people's achievements, including people who did not make his life easy. Basically, because he backs up a lot of the events with extensive notes and references you can be reasonably sure that these things did mostly happen, and because they are fairly recent (relative to the writing of the book) they are unlikely to be tainted by the fallibility of memory.

Interesting in all of this is that he was appointed under the Bush administration, but then mostly worked under the Obama administration. Further, he gives equal measure of credit to supporters from both major political parties and never descends into general statements about either party being good or bad, obstructive or supportive, rather he phrases it in terms of Congress, White house or the individual specifically.

And although he comes of as fair, even giving his political enemies generally some level of credit, Timothy Geithner in the final pages gets painted as a Narcissist, and really, up to that point no one is portrayed as having something wrong with them, rather being your standard public servants (mostly very a la Yes Prime Minister), which is why I found this a bit jarring and disappointing. Granted, it is in the guise of a joke, based on a single flimsy statement by Geithner (plus of course Barofsky's general perception of him) but its there, reads with a hint of malice and ... well it stands out.

Overall, with about 240 pages of text (the rest is notes) the book is quite slim, but this is largely a dry matter. Still, Barofsky spins a good tale (since I doubt he recorded every conversation he recounts), with great focus and manages to make it really, quite a good read. There are parts were your eyes will likely glaze over, and you'll need to re-read the paragraph, but it's not that they are boring, more so that the material is quite dense and ... well ... it happens.

What I thought was most interesting is that this is a rarer look at the GFC: mostly you read about what went wrong at the start, but this book is focused on what happened in the making it right again. And an inside view from the guy in charge of looking for the problems (again adding to the credibility), which makes some of this a very bizarre read, but at the same time odds are you will recognize the same petty politics that happen in most workplaces, and in some ways that good and in others just sad (albeit not surprising).

Despite the material being dense it is presented very well, and the book is quite readable. It isn't complex for the most part and more about events rather than schemes, so it is quite readable, and all the discussion of how things went wrong when people do greedy / stupid things is quite well presented, though these passages may take a quick second run over because acronyms are frequently used and if you don't know them, you may get lost (I certainly did).

I can't say I've read a lot of books on this subject, but this is clearly a well written and approachable one, so it is easy to recommend. The other thing that I really liked was that it also deals with Barofsky's personal growth of coming to the role and then growing into it and how things affected him. Which made it so much more human than it could have been, and again makes it a title that is easy to recommend, because even if the finance stuff is just on the periphery of your interest, this aspect will draw you in.

Why did I dock a star? Firstly, towards the end there is some nastiness which probably isn't intended maliciously, but its there and it stands in grim contrast to most of the book. Irrespective of the intention with which it was written, it seems regrettable, especially in the context of other discussions. (Being biographical this is as close to a spoiler as I can get, so please forgive the cryptic nature of this statement). The second is that it ends very abruptly, which is fair because it's about his work, though an epilogue would have been good. That said, maybe this is something where we are too close for now, with Barofsky ending his work on SIGTARP March 2011, and the book concluding mostly 2012, so a real retrospective isn't going to be meaningful just yet, so fine, but it still is abrupt.

Irrespective of the 4 out of 5 score and my two complaints, this is an excellent read.

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Marcos Luz

27 trillion dollars bailout: Fear of collapse or something else?

Reviewed in Brazil on November 17, 2020

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Excellent book, well written. The bailout happened and press coverage at the time gave me some indication that the situation was very severe. This book goes beyond and brings not only the terrible financial perspective but also the details of the agreements that saved the world financial system...(every penny of it). To summarize them all, everything to the banks, AIG, Chrysler, GM, etc; nothing to homeowners. Trillions of dollars flying around backed by taxpayers. After this book and despite all the good that President Obama accomplished, I am starting to think that the bailout - as implemented - was not only fear but political corruption on its highest episode.

Marinela Matei

So sad, so scary

Reviewed in Canada on March 11, 2013

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Not much to add to the most positive reviews already written here. I've just realized that the reviews I'm talking about were written on amazon.com and that's why they are not marked on amazon.ca I'm sure that Canadians have read and are reading this book too but maybe they are not taking it as personally as I do.

I'm glad that I'm far from being alone in my praise for this book. This is a must read for anyone trying to understand what kind of a world we live in today. My blood was boiling for the entire time it took to read this book and I almost went into a depression. I don't know if I'm reading this kind of books because I'm depressed or is the other way around, but the fact is that there are tons of books now documenting what happened before and after the financial crisis in 2008 and explaining why. Just before reading this one I read "The Big Short" and "Boomerang" by Michael Lewis which at least made me laugh sometimes, but then, after "Bailout" I went straight into "Predator Nation: Corporate Criminals, Political Corruption, and the Hijacking of America", bought and seen the movie "Inside Job", both by Charles Ferguson and ended up with Joseph Stiglitz in "Freefall: America, Free Markets and the Sinking of the World Economy". I'm still in freefall or so I feel and it doesn't help that I've just finished "The Wizard of Lies: Bernie Madoff and the Death of Trust" by Diana B. Henriques and last week I've got into "The Trouble with Billionaires" (by Linda McQuaig & Neil Brooks).

This is beyond sad and scary. The scary part is that all these authors cannot be dismissed as alarmists, communists or ignorants; they are all either reputable journalists, world renowned economists or in the case of Neil Barofsky, a professor of law and an honest and outstanding prosecutor. The sad part...is that even they are pointing only to the tip of the iceberg.

Anyway, after all of these I think I should see something uplifting, something joyful...Les Miserables will do.

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DOPPLEGANGER

ANOTHER WALL STREET MUGGING

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 16, 2013

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Neil Barofsky's account of the Treasury's handling of the $700 billion TARP bailout fund is indeed a highly worrying and eye-opening story of mishandling, underhand protection of vested interests, hostility and deviousness amongst government departments and Presidential appointees, and endemic corruption. If all was as stated by the author then the US taxpayers have again been 'taken to the cleaners' and their interests subordinated to those of Wall Street.

In this respect Barofsky's revelations about the conduct, demeanour, preponderance to coarse language, and motives of The Treasury Secretary, Tim Geithner are very worrying, particularly as very similar sentiments were recently expressed by the highly respected former FDIC Chairman, Sheila Bair in her much acclaimed book 'A Bull By The Horns'.

A very readable, interesting and informative work on behind the scenes of the biggest 'give-away' in economic history. However, but whether or not the revelations will resonate around and lessons be learned by the Politicians and will they ever be able to release themselves from the stranglehold in which they are held by Wall Street, is most doubtful?

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carlquist harris

An Eye Opener

Reviewed in Japan on March 12, 2013

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One of the 3 best books I've read about The Mess We're In ( the other 2 being Michael Hirsch's "Capital Offense" and Ron Suskind's "Confidence Men" ). Unlike the other 2 authors who are journalists, Barofsky writes as a former insider. Although a Democrat, he was appointed late in the Bush Administration and also served in the early stages of the Obama administration. For those of us who voted for Obama and "change" in 2008, this book is a real eye opener.
If you want to get a sense of what this book is like, check out Barofsky's appearance on The Daily Show.

Brian M

Excellent read

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 7, 2015

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Very readable, if slightly scary, account of Barofsky's time as inspector of the TARP programme. Although his view is now pretty mainstream, and there is slight element of hindsight, it is a sad indictment of many who were really making the decisions who were either protecting themselves politically or too close to the banks to see where there could be problems.

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