Short Synopsis
Simon Johnson and James Kwak examine not only how Wall Street's ideology, wealth, and political power among policy makers in Washington led to the financial debacle of 2008 but also what the lessons learned portend for the future.

Full Synopsis
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, which together control assets amounting 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.

In 13 Bankers, prominent economist Simon Johnson and James Kwak give a wide-ranging, meticulous, and bracing account of recent U.S. financial history within the context of previous showdowns between American democracy and Big Finance. They convincingly show why our future is imperiled by the ideology of finance (finance is good, unregulated finance is better, unfettered finance run amok is best) and by Wall Street's political control of government policy pertaining to it.

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."

"Erik Synnestvedt reads with a strong and clear voice and an appropriate edge of indignation at the hubris of our nation's most powerful bankers." ---Publishers Weekly Audio Review

"If the wads of money you've stuffed into your mattress for safekeeping don't keep you up at night, Simon Johnson and James Kwak's 13 Bankers will. A disturbing and painstakingly researched account." ---Bill Moyers

"Johnson and Kwak not only tell us in great detail how the crisis happened...but they see the deeper political and cultural context that permitted carelessness and excess nearly to break the financial system." ---Bill Bradley, former U.S. senator

"We should heed the lesson that Simon Johnson and James Kwak draw: the continued concentration of economic and political power makes future economic crises inevitable and undermines democracy." ---Brad Miller, U.S. congressman

"A provocative prescription for avoiding a repeat of the panic of 2008." ---San Francisco Chronicle

"What Simon Johnson is telling us is that we are subjecting ourselves to rule by a self-perpetuating banking oligarchy. Which leaves two questions: Are we listening? And if we are, then what are we going to do about it?" ---Alan Grayson, U.S. congressman

Library Journal Best Business Book

New York Times Bestseller

Publishers Weekly Bestseller