Rent Bailout: How Washington Abandoned Main Street While Rescuing Wall Street

Synopsis

In this riveting account of the mishandling of the TARP bailout fund, a former federal prosecutor offers behind-the-scenes proof of the corrupt ways Washington officials serve the interests of Wall Street.

In author Neil Barofsky's bracing, fast-paced account of the mishandling of the $700 billion TARP (Troubled Asset Relief Program) bailout fund, he offers insider proof of the shockingly corrupt ways in which Washington officials are hell-bent on serving, first and foremost, the interests of Wall Street firms—at the expense of the American public.

A prosecutor in the US Attorney's Office in New York City, Barofsky left this job in the wake of the financial crisis to become the Special Inspector General in charge of oversight of TARP. From day one, his efforts to protect against fraud and to hold the big banks accountable for their mishandling of bailout money was met with outright hostility. In blow-by-blow detail, Barofsky recounts an increasingly aggressive war waged against his efforts, from the Treasury officials in charge of TARP to attacks against him by the White House.

Bailout is a stunning account of an outsider's total immersion in the corrupt political milieu of Washington, an irrefutable indictment of just how coopted our political system is by Wall Street, and why the too-big-to-fail banks have only become larger and ultimately more dangerous at the expense of any real financial reform.

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