Broken Bargain: Bankers, Bailouts, and the Struggle to Tame Wall Street

A history of major financial crises-and how taxpayers have been left with the bill

In the 1930s, battered and humbled by the Great Depression, the US financial sector struck a grand bargain with the federal government. Bankers gained a safety net in exchange for certain curbs on their freedom: transparency rules, record-keeping and anti-fraud measures, and fiduciary responsibilities. Despite subsequent periodic changes in these regulations, the underlying bargain played a major role in prese...