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|  | Author: Henry M. Paulson
Publisher: Business Plus
Category: Book
List Price: $28.99
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as of 7/29/2010 10:05 EDT details
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Seller: goodwill_industries_san_francisco
Rating:  86 reviews
Sales Rank: 5185
Languages: English (Unknown), English (Original Language), English (Published)
Media: Hardcover
Edition: 1
Pages: 496
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.7
Dimensions (in): 9.1 x 6.2 x 1.6
ISBN: 0446561932
Dewey Decimal Number: 330.973
EAN: 9780446561938
ASIN: 0446561932
Publication Date: February 1, 2010
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: Book is in Good Condition. We ship Monday - Friday. Easy returns if you are unhappy with the book. Proceeds benefit non-profit Goodwill Industries of San Francisco, San Mateo and Marin Counties. We create solutions to poverty through the businesses we operate. Your purchase creates jobs and transforms lives. Thank you.
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 56-60 of 86
 Must Read if you work in Banking, Real Estate or Investments February 15, 2010
Sequoya (Princeton, New Jersey)
3 out of 9 found this review helpful
It doesn't matter who you blame for the financial meltdown we experienced in 2008 or how much you agree or disagree with Mr. Paulson's actions(or lack off) while Secretary of the Treasury... you want to read this book because it will give you a glimpse that you seldom will get on the state of mind of someone in his position during a very scary time for many in our country.
 Another Too Late, "Me Too" Book February 15, 2010
Loyd E. Eskildson (Phoenix, AZ.)
6 out of 12 found this review helpful
Henry Paulson was Secretary of the Treasury during a once-in-a-lifetime economic nightmare. His book opens with a meeting with President Bush regarding Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. His plan is to move fast - replacing their leadership and bail each out with up to $100 billion before they can seek refuge in Congress or the courts. Both common and preferred stockholders will be wiped out. The two together owned or guaranteed $5+ trillion in mortgages and mortgage-backed securities, about half the total market. Combined, they had lost $5.5 billion that year, and both had been twice downgraded the prior month. Seemingly everyone owned their paper, and the stock of one had fallen almost 90%.
Paulson reveals that at least one bank CEO (Chuck Prince, Citigroup CEO) recognized the competitive pressures to follow profitable, but risky, practices and asked for more regulation. ("As long as the music is playing, you've got to get up and dance.") An interesting source and rationale for more regulation.
Readers also learn that despite public assurances to the contrary, G.E.'s Immelt on at least four occasions expressed worries about GE's short-term commercial-paper debt and eventually successfully lobbied for access to special government guarantees for such debt - eventually covering more than $70 billion in GE debt. At the time, GE was the largest U.S. issuer of such short-term debt.
As expected, Paulson strongly defends the government's massive bailout of Wall Street firms, including that of AIG, and thus indirectly, his old firm Goldman Sachs. He also takes pains to explain why he took the actions taken, despite being a 'free market' follower, and contradicts those who see Bush II as lazy and uninquisitive. Unexpectedly, Paulson also reports being put off by V.P. candidate Sarah Palin's attitude of familiarity and lack of familiarity with the issues. He was also unimpressed by candidate McCain and Minority Leader John Boehner.
Bottom-Line: "On the Brink" provides no bombshells - only another chronological accounting that has been covered too many times before.
Pragmatism Trumps Ideology February 14, 2010
James M. Stone Jr. (Rocky Mountains)
2 out of 7 found this review helpful
Having read several other books regarding the same time frame, I found Paulson's book essentially consistent with what appears to be a consensus regarding the crisis. But, throughout, my mind kept returning to a quote from his predecessor's book, "The Price of Loyalty," by Ron Suskind, written with Paul O'Neill, Bush's first Secretary of the Treasury:
"I think an ideology comes out of feelings and it tends to be non-thinking. A philosophy, on the other hand, can have a structured thought base. One would hope that a philosophy, which is always a work in progress, is influenced by facts. So there is a constant interplay between what do I think and why do I think it...Now, if you gather more facts and have more experience, especially with things that have gone wrong - those are especially good learning tools - then you reshape your philosophy, because the facts tell you you've got to. It doesn't change what you wish for. I mean, it's okay to wish for something that's, you know, outside of your fact realm. But it's not okay to confuse all that...Ideology is a lot easier, because you don't have to know anything or search for anything. You already know the answer to everything. It's not penetrable by facts. It's absoltutism."
We may all be thankful that Paulson (and Ben Bernanke) were "conservatives" philosophically and not merely ideolouges.
Of course, by the time Paulson took over at Treasury, the die had already been cast. It was interesting to learn that the first time he was contacted about taking the post, was in late May 2006, the same month that Ameriquest, a major subprime lender, whose founder and CEO was a major Bush fund raiser in 2004, began to go under, laying-off 4,000 people and closing their retail outlets. Certainly, Roland Arnall, who was a Bush appointee to the Netherlands in late 2005, must have given the Administration some clue as it what was coming. Yet, Paulson spends little time discussing his own immediate predecessor, Secretary of the Treasury John W. Snow, or discussion of the subprime meltdown in his apparently extensive discussions with the White House concerning his own appoitment, between May and August 2006. Indeed, there is no mention of the looming crisis until the winter of 2006.
To use an old Howard Baker Watergate phrase: What did he know and when did he know it?
My own theory is that Paulson was brought in to specifically deal with the housing crisis, which the Administration knew was coming. The subprime mortgage boom was between 2003 and 2006 and we have yet to hear from John W. Snow, who was Secretary of the Treasury during the period the boom was allowed to develop.
I cannot think of another President who cut taxes and then took the country to war (and there is ample evidence that the invasion of Iraq planning began prior to 9/11). But, looking ahead to a ten year projected surplus of $5.2 trillion, I believe the White House economic advisors thought, assuming the dot.com recession would not be significant, they could provide a $1.2 trillion tax cut, resolve social security (via the private accounts approach - a trillion dollar transition cost); provide a Medicare Prescription drug program (another trillion dollars); pay down some of the national debt; and fight a small war, originally estimated at $200 billion (Lawrence Lindsay lost his job over that number, but it had to come from somewhere).
Reaganomics told the White House people that the tax cut would spur growth, increase jobs and GDP and ultimately increase government revenue (which it initially did). But, with 9/11, additional costs had to be factored into the budget (Afghanistan, Homeland Security and reduced revenue). The answer was the housing bubble, which became more important as the wars dragged on. Had the wars (and the need for less revenue) gone as planned, perhaps the Administration would have acted on their own to deflate what everyone knew was a bubble; when the wars went longer than expected, the bubble blew up in their faces. Paulson was called upon to be "Mr. Fix It."
The epic struggle to save our entire way of life - a firsthand account February 14, 2010
Kurt Schwoppe (Alexandria, VA United States)
4 out of 8 found this review helpful
"On the Brink" is a truly remarkable account from the one person who was at the center of the greatest financial crisis ever faced by our country. Hank Paulson does not judge, promote, condemn or vilify; instead he tells a fascinating account of all the major players and their legitimate concerns and motivations. His ability to explain complex financial situations, which served him so well when dealing with Congress, makes his book highly readable for anyone with a basic understanding of our economic and political systems. "On the Brink" immediately captures your attention with the near demise of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac then doesn't let go as the Department of Treasury and the Federal Reserve commence their epic struggle to stop the rapidly falling dominoes from bringing down our entire way of life. Through Paulson's straight forward but intriguing narrative, not only do you gain a true appreciation for the stakes, but you have an insider's view of a complex game fraught with politics, conflicting interests and even international relations. While this book is anything but self serving, you come away knowing simply through the facts, that everything accomplished between September 2008 and January 2009 could never have been done unless this core team of players, guided by Paulson and Bernanke, were dedicated, trustworthy, and extremely competent. I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to understand the economic situation that brought our country to the brink and the steps that were taken to keep it from toppling over the edge.
 Self-serving fiction February 13, 2010
M. Gonzalez (USA)
15 out of 27 found this review helpful
This reads like a self-serving excuse list for Paulsen. I was very disappointed in the lack of cogent reasons provided for what he did in the bailout, and the writing was no great shakes either. A big let-down.
Showing reviews 56-60 of 86
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