The dramatic story behind the most audacious power grab in American history.
The financial crisis that exploded in 2008 isn.t past but prologue. The stunning
rise, fall, and rescue of Wall Street in the bubble-and-bailout era was the
coming-out party for the network of looters who sit at the nexus of American
political and economic power. The grifter class - made up of the largest players
in the financial industry and the politicians who do their bidding - has been
growing in power for a generation, transferring wealth upward through increasingly
complex financial mechanisms and political maneuvers.

Rolling Stone.s Matt Taibbi here unravels the whole fiendish story, digging beyond
the headlines to get into the deeper roots and wider implications of the rise of
the grifters. He traces the movement.s origins to the cult of Ayn Rand and her
most influential - and possibly weirdest - acolyte, Alan Greenspan, and offers
fresh reporting on the backroom deals that decided the winners and losers in the
government bailouts. He uncovers the hidden commodities bubble that transferred
billions of dollars to Wall Street while creating food shortages around the world,
and he shows how finance dominates politics, from the story of investment bankers
auctioning off America.s infrastructure to an inside account of the high-stakes
battle for health-care reform - a battle the true reformers lost.

Finally, he tells the story of Goldman Sachs, the .vampire squid wrapped around
the face of humanity..

Taibbi has combined deep sources, trailblazing reportage, and provocative analysis
to create the most lucid, emotionally galvanizing, and scathingly funny account yet
written of the ongoing political and financial crisis in America. This is essential
listening for anyone who wants to understand the labyrinthine inner workings of
politics and finance in this country, and the profound consequences for us all.

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