13 Bankers - A Must Read

     I just finished reading great book titled 13 Bankers - The Wall Street Takeover and the Next Financial Meltdown by Simon Johnson and James Kwak.  Google Books describes this fabulous book as follows:

"Even after the ruinous financial crisis of 2008, America is still beset by the depredations of an oligarchy that is now bigger, more profitable, and more resistant to regulation than ever. Anchored by six megabanks—Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, Wells Fargo, Goldman Sachs, and Morgan Stanley—which together control assets amounting, astonishingly, to more than 60 percent of the country’s gross domestic product, these financial institutions (now more emphatically “too big to fail”) continue to hold the global economy hostage, threatening yet another financial meltdown with their excessive risk-taking and toxic “business as usual” practices. How did this come to be—and what is to be done? These are the central concerns of 13 Bankers, a brilliant, historically informed account of our troubled political economy.  .  .

As the authors insist, the choice that America faces is stark: whether Washington will accede to the vested interests of an unbridled financial sector that runs up profits in good years and dumps its losses on taxpayers in lean years, or reform through stringent regulation the banking system as first and foremost an engine of economic growth. To restore health and balance to our economy, Johnson and Kwak make a radical yet feasible and focused proposal: reconfigure the megabanks to be “small enough to fail.”"

Everyone needs to read this book.  It is time that we recognize the power of these megabanks and take action to reduce their political influence and harm they do to the rest of us. 
     The authors also have a very good blog - Baseline Scenario - that deals with the financial meltdown and current financial issues that you should check out periodically.