The Bullies of Wall Street: This Is How Greedy Adults Messed Up Our Economy by Sheila Bair (review)

Abstract

Reviewed by: The Bullies of Wall Street: This Is How Greedy Adults Messed Up Our Economy by Sheila Bair Elizabeth Bush Bair, Sheila The Bullies of Wall Street: This Is How Greedy Adults Messed Up Our Economy. Simon, 2015 [272p] Trade d. ISBN 978-1-4814-0085-5 $17.99 E-book ed. ISBN 978-1-4814-0087-9 $10.99 Reviewed from galleys Ad Gr. 7-10 Among the collateral damage wrought by the Great Recession are those tweens and teens whose households suffered loss of income and housing, and whose own prospects for secure employment and a prosperous adulthood are not looking too rosy. For adolescents in search of answers, Bair offers a simplified and redesigned reprise of her best-selling adult work, Bull by the Horns. Part One features fictional vignettes of families impacted by the financial meltdown, from home loss through shaky mortgages or risky speculation, to academic problems caused by school funding cuts and the burden of student loan debt. In Part Two, Bair describes her own experiences during the crisis as chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. Part Three discusses the current state of national financial affairs, which Bair considers far from reformed, and how to conduct one’s personal finances prudently. Bair is top-notch at explaining how the system is built and why it breaks down, carefully connecting topics such as ballooning mortgages, securitization, [End Page 439] loan servicing, regulatory bodies, bailouts, and director compensations into a coherent whole. The writing is kept lively by Bair’s insider perspective and her take-no-prisoners critique of those she deems most culpable for the crisis and its handling. The problem here, and it’s an unfortunate but considerable one, is a tonal mismatch between the six fictional pieces, simplistically choreographed to move from maudlin set-up to optimistic conclusion, and the deft explanations of challenging concepts, which speak to an older audience. Teachers and librarians recommending this title might suggest culling the main point of each scenario and moving briskly along, or better yet, reconsidering each tale in light of the experiences of family, friends, and neighbors. Copyright © 2015 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois