Griftopia

Bubble Machines, Vampire Squids, and the Long Con That Is Breaking America

By: Matt Taibbi

Narrated by: Patrick Egan

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. The crisis was only one terrifying manifestation of how they’ve hijacked America’s political and economic life.

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.

©2010 Matt Taibbi (P)2010 Random House Audio

Matt is Angry

I've read some Taibbi - and he's a frustrating read. For example, the reviews above this are *both* correct The best thing about Griftopia is also the worst: Matt is now so entrenched among the "common person," he has lost perspective of where we are as readers. Taibbi does a great job of decoding some bank "definitions" and moves. And at the same time, Matt is close to Lewis Black inasmuch as his opinions come through in ways where I ask: MATT, next book, just write from the gut, and make the issue your OWN. In other words, Taibbi has strong and ultimately interesting - but he is slippery where fact meets opinion. What a relief from the glut if taking the banking establishment too seriously. Is he right about Ayn Rand and objectivism? He made me think - which is what one gets in only the best of books. MOST EXCELLENT: he reads it.

A Must Listen for Anyone

If you could sum up Griftopia in three words, what would they be?

Educational, alarming, excellent

What was the most compelling aspect of this narrative?

The most compelling aspect of this book is that Matt actually educates even the most ignorant of people like me on the current condition of America.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

Corporations Enslave

Any additional comments?

Get Informed. Listen to this book.

Great expose of the corruption in business world.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Griftopia?

The whole story. I enjoyed how Matt just tells the story no holds barred.

Any additional comments?

Wish that the average man on the street could read this book and then do something to change the system.

Even 11 years on Griftopia still shocks the senses

This book should be absolutely required reading/listening for every single American. It should be in every high school curriculum.

I'm pretty well informed about the events leading up to, and the subsequent fallout of, the financial shenanigans that led to the Great Recession, but I had never read Taibbi's book until now. Even knowing so much about those events, I was still shocked and blown away by a huge amount of the info in this book.

You may think you know the relevant facts of those dark days, but in order to truly understand the darkest days of the failing US empire as we are experiencing them today, you MUST read/listen to Griftopia.

A must read

A must read on the American experiment and the level of gift we allow in our society. Corruption is thy name and good governance is gone

great read

Enjoyed this book very much, made what could have been dull into an interesting and insightful experience.

No pulled punches

I've read many books about the financial collapse. This one was by far the most entertaining-perhaps because it didn't hold onto some sort of reverence for the financial elite while discussing the topic.

Disturbing, unsettling and eye opening.

Very entertaining and even funny at times but scary as hell. If what Mr. Tabbai purports is true, the United States as we "know" it is already dead.

Amazing but scary

One of the best books dealing with the financial meltdown. If this book doesn't shake you up, nothing will. The only reason these crooks haven't been indicted is because once you started arresting people you wouldn't know when to stop. This is a perfect illustration of Obama's dilemma, keep your friends close and keep your enemies closer.

very interesting!

I knew about a lot of these issues coming in, but never explained in such an easy to understand way. Also explains how all of it is connected. Excellent writer! Narrator is good as well.