9780062882479
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Borrowed Time audiobook

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Borrowed Time Audiobook Summary

The alarming, untold story of Citigroup–one of the largest financial institutions in the world–from its founding in 1812 to its role in the 2008 financial crisis, and the many near-death experiences in between.

During the 2008 financial crisis, we were told that Citi was a victim of events beyond its control–the larger financial panic, unforeseen economic disruptions and a perfect storm of credit expansion and private greed. To save the economy and keep the bank afloat, the government provided huge infusions of cash through multiple bailouts that frustrated and angered the American public.

But, as Wall Street Journal writer James Freeman and financial expert Vern McKinley reveal, the 2008 crisis was just one of many disasters Citi has experienced since its founding more than two hundred years ago. In Borrowed Time they reveal Citi’s disturbing history of instability and government support. It’s a story that neither Citi nor Washington wants told.

Citi has long been tied to the federal government in a relationship that has benefited both. From its earliest years, its well-connected leadership–most of its initial stockholders had owned stock in the Bank of the United States–took massive risks that led to crisis. But thanks to a rescue by private investors, including John Jacob Astor, the bank survived throughout the nineteenth century.

This is just the tip of the iceberg. The scale of the financial panic of 2008 was hardly unprecedented. As Borrowed Time shows, crisis and outright disasters have been surprisingly common during the century of government-protected banking–especially at Citi.

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Borrowed Time Audiobook Narrator

Fred Sanders is the narrator of Borrowed Time audiobook that was written by James Freeman

James Freeman has been the Wall Street Journal’s principal writer of unsigned editorials on Wall Street banking and regulation since the crisis of 2008. Under his own byline, he has published extended interviews with many of the most consequential people in finance, from the founder of the world’s largest hedge fund to the lead software developer of the Bitcoin project. He is a Fox News contributor and frequently appears on the Fox Business Network. He has also appeared on CNN, CNBC and MSNBC.

About the Author(s) of Borrowed Time

James Freeman is the author of Borrowed Time

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Borrowed Time Full Details

Narrator Fred Sanders
Length 11 hours 51 minutes
Author James Freeman
Category
Publisher HarperAudio
Release date August 07, 2018
ISBN 9780062882479

Subjects

The publisher of the Borrowed Time is HarperAudio. includes the following subjects: The BISAC Subject Code is Banks & Banking, Business & Economics

Additional info

The publisher of the Borrowed Time is HarperAudio. The imprint is HarperAudio. It is supplied by HarperAudio. The ISBN-13 is 9780062882479.

Global Availability

This book is only available in the United States.

Goodreads Reviews

Drtaxsacto

March 21, 2020

In order to understand Freeman's history of CITI - one needs only to recount the founding of the bank after the First Bank of the United States expired. The original incorporators funded the bank using pledged stock (which means that their direct financial commitment to the new enterprise was $0).Freeman does a superb job of describing the growth and missteps of this largest of US banks. In the epilogue he recounts the numerous bailouts that CITI has gotten over its history (the most recent being in the 2008 mortgage dump). CITI has also, since the turn of the 20th Century had a couple of CEOs who had no experience in banking. HE does a good job of explaining how CITI has often been a revolving door for government executives including people like Timothy Geithner, who admitted that he was woefully unprepared for his job at the NY Fed, then Treasury, then CITI.The author does some good discussion on the concept which keeps places like CITI committing these acts of impropriety - Too big to fail. For my money I would have let the miscreants fall. It would have been painful but it probably would have reduced the propensity for executives like those from CITI (who accessed federal dollars six or seven times in the last hundred years) thinking that their ultimate guarantor was you and me.

Matthew Anderson

January 17, 2019

A masterfully written work by two Wall Street Journal authors. Gives insight into the U.S. (and, by extension, the world) monetary system in an examination of the key role played by a New York bank (now known as "CitiBank").Interesting read for anyone trying to understand the whole "too big to fail" thing that justifies government bailouts of the country's (world's) largest banks.

Shivakumar

October 06, 2018

A fascinating account of the history of Citigroup. I particularly liked the focus of the book on citi’s earlier years , and its less focus on the recent financial crisis , sets this book apart. Worth a read

Yunis

December 25, 2018

This gives the book a reason to be different its approach. It is a book made to compare the past with the present. It is made to on the fixation of how did 2008 Citi was bank that evolved over time and in the process lose itself. Banks role has changed over the past century. Bail out is failing institution has become related to the role of the nation state. Big business are integral part of the nation that they cannot fail even if they do. Citi was not build by failure, but it seems that time had gone the best out of this institution. The story of this bank is excellent read on the evolution of the banking in the US. I consider this my introduction

Somak

May 20, 2020

I found this book lying around my apartment building to be donated.What a mistake.This book was probably my first exposure to finance and all of the financial crises. The history of the banking industry in the United States is eye-opening and mind-boggling. The changes surrounding Citibank are even more unbelievable. I am shocked at how Citi used to bail out the government and other banks in the 18th and 19th century. Now, they get bailed out by the taxpayer.

Andy Leung

January 12, 2020

Great insight into the financial history of the US & Citi... but lacks accounting of how Citi got itself into so much trouble...

Kai Yun

December 06, 2019

As an insolvency lawyer, I found this book fascinating! The stories of distressed companies often follow a similar script: a rapid period of growth, ill-advised risk taking, followed by excessive borrowings to fill the hole in the balance sheet. This book offered a different perspective of insolvency when it came to regulating a huge bank like Citi, which is so interconnected to many other parts of the financial web, that it often leads to regulatory capture. I found to be insightful and well-researched and will recommend this for anyone interested in insolvency!

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