Reckless: How debt, deregulation, and dark money nearly bankrupted America (and how we can fix it!) (2009)

The first thing to note is that this book was written by a Democratic Senator (ND) and he was in the thick of things during the TARP scam concocted by Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson and Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke.

In the preface he makes his position clear:

I voted against the $700 billion [TARP bailout] because I didn’t think the Treasury Secretary had the foggiest idea of what he was going to do with the money. That turned out to be the case.

In a matter of weeks in what must surely have been one of the biggest bait and switch operations in government history, the Treasury Secretary changed his mind after he got the money. Instead of buying “TROUBLED ASSETS” from financial institutions, he decided he would use the money TO INVEST CAPITAL IN BANKS. And he doled out the money WITH NO STRINGS ATTACHED. There was NO REQUIREMENT THAT THE BANKS USE THE FUNDS TO EXPAND LENDING [which was what the economy needed]. And there was NO PROHIBITION on the use of the money for EXECUTIVE BONUSES. It made no sense that he would pur money into the big banks without requiring some increase their lending. But he did.

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