
A Colossal Failure of Common Sense
The Inside Story of the Collapse of Lehman Brothers
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Narrated by:
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Erik Davies
About this listen
One of the biggest questions of the financial crisis has not been answered until now: What happened at Lehman Brothers and why was it allowed to fail, with aftershocks that rocked the global economy? In this news-making, often astonishing book, a former Lehman Brothers Vice President gives us the straight answers - right from the belly of the beast. In A Colossal Failure of Common Sense, Larry McDonald, a Wall Street insider, reveals, the culture and unspoken rules of the game like no book has ever done. The book is couched in the very human story of Larry McDonald’s Horatio Alger-like rise from a Massachusetts “gateway to nowhere” housing project to the New York headquarters of Lehman Brothers, home of one of the world’s toughest trading floors.
We get a close-up view of the participants in the Lehman collapse, especially those who saw it coming with a helpless, angry certainty. We meet the Brahmins at the top, whose reckless, pedal-to-the-floor addiction to growth finally demolished the nation’ s oldest investment bank. The Wall Street we encounter here is a ruthless place, where brilliance, arrogance, ambition, greed, capacity for relentless toil, and other human traits combine in a potent mix that sometimes fuels prosperity but occasionally destroys it.
The full significance of the dissolution of Lehman Brothers remains to be measured. But this much is certain: It was a devastating blow to America’s - and the world’s - financial system. And it need not have happened. This is the story of why it did.
©2009 Lawrence G. McDonald (P)2009 Random HouseListeners also enjoyed...
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In March 2008, Bear Stearns, a swashbuckling 84-year-old financial institution, was forced to sell itself to JPMorgan Chase for an outrageously low price in a deal brokered by Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, who was desperately trying to prevent the impending catastrophic market crash. But mere months before, an industry-wide boom had "the Bear" clocking a record high stock price. How did a giant investment bank with $18 billion in cash on hand disappear in a mere 10 days?
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Riveting "Read" About Credit Crisis
- By Thomas on 04-25-09
By: William Cohan
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Den of Thieves
- By: James B. Stewart
- Narrated by: Johnny Heller
- Length: 19 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
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Pulitzer Prize winner James B. Stewart shows for the first time how four of the biggest names on Wall Street - Michael Milken, Ivan Boesky, Martin Siegel, and Dennis Levine - created the greatest insider-trading ring in financial history and almost walked away with billions - until a team of downtrodden detectives triumphed over some of America's most expensive lawyers to bring this powerful quartet to justice.
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Awesome book
- By Lars Tackmann on 10-23-17
By: James B. Stewart
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The Informant
- A True Story
- By: Kurt Eichenwald
- Narrated by: Arthur Morey
- Length: 24 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
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From an award-winning New York Times investigative reporter comes an outrageous story of greed, corruption, and conspiracy, which left the FBI and Justice Department counting on the cooperation of one man.
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Great Story
- By Phil on 09-07-11
By: Kurt Eichenwald
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The Smartest Guys in the Room
- The Amazing Rise and Scandalous Fall of Enron
- By: Bethany McLean
- Narrated by: Dennis Boutsikaris
- Length: 22 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
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The definitive volume on Enron's amazing rise and scandalous fall, from an award-winning team of Fortune investigative reporters.
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An excellent book, but with a missing chapter
- By Augustus T. White on 03-07-12
By: Bethany McLean
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How to Listen When Markets Speak
- Risks, Myths, and Investment Opportunities in a Radically Reshaped Economy
- By: Lawrence G. McDonald, James Patrick Robinson
- Narrated by: James Patrick Robinson
- Length: 11 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
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A New York Times bestselling author and leading expert on market risk argues that seismic shifts in the global economy will trigger a multi-trillion-dollar migration of wealth, tracing the fateful decisions that created this crisis—and outlines new rules of investing for the forward-thinking.
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Just a poorly disguised sales pitch
- By Jason Soulon on 07-01-24
By: Lawrence G. McDonald, and others
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Money Men
- A Hot Startup, A Billion Dollar Fraud, A Fight for the Truth
- By: Dan McCrum
- Narrated by: Dan McCrum
- Length: 13 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
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When investigative journalist Dan McCrum first came across Wirecard, the hot new tech company that looked poised to challenge Silicon Valley, it all looked a little too good to be true: offices were sprouting up all over the world, and they were reporting runaway growth. In the space of a few short years, the company had come from nowhere to overtake industry giants like Commerzbank and Deutsche Bank on the stock market. As McCrum began to dig deeper, he encountered a story stranger and more compelling than he could have imagined.
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Interesting book but…
- By Rock Climber on 06-11-23
By: Dan McCrum
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When Genius Failed
- The Rise and Fall of Long-Term Capital Management
- By: Roger Lowenstein
- Narrated by: Roger Lowenstein
- Length: 9 hrs and 12 mins
- Abridged
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Roger Lowenstein, the bestselling author of Buffett, captures Long-Term's roller-coaster ride in gripping detail. Drawing on confidential internal memos and interviews with dozens of key players, Lowenstein crafts a story that reads like a first-rate thriller from beginning to end. He explains not just how the fund made and lost its money, but what it was about the personalities of Long-Term's partners, the arrogance of their mathematical certainties, and the late-nineties culture of Wall Street that made it all possible.
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When Genius Failed
- By Sean on 12-17-08
By: Roger Lowenstein
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King of Capital
- The Remarkable Rise, Fall, and Rise Again of Steve Schwarzman and Blackstone
- By: John E. Morris, David Carey
- Narrated by: George K. Wilson
- Length: 14 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
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The financial establishment---banks and investment bankers, such as Citigroup, Bear Stearns, Lehman, UBS, Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch, and Morgan Stanley---were the cowboys, recklessly assuming risks, leveraging up to astronomical levels, and driving the economy to the brink of disaster.
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Great Story Ruined by Monotone Reading
- By Marc on 04-23-13
By: John E. Morris, and others
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Fatal Risk
- A Cautionary Tale of AIG's Corporate Suicide
- By: Roddy Boyd
- Narrated by: Joe Barrett
- Length: 11 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
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From the collapse of Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers, the subject of the 2007-08 financial crisis has been well covered. However, the story central to the crisis - that of AIG - has until now remained largely untold. Fatal Risk: A Cautionary Tale of AIG's Corporate Suicide tells the inside story of what really went on inside AIG that caused it to choke on risk and nearly bring down the entire economic system.
By: Roddy Boyd
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Black Edge
- Inside Information, Dirty Money, and the Quest to Bring Down the Most Wanted Man on Wall Street
- By: Sheelah Kolhatkar
- Narrated by: Kaleo Griffith
- Length: 12 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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Steven A. Cohen changed Wall Street. He and his fellow pioneers of the hedge fund industry didn’t lay railroads, build factories, or invent new technologies. Rather, they made their billions through financial speculation, by placing bets in the market that turned out to be right more often than not.
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Amazing book about trading that feels like an adventure novel
- By Tim S on 05-24-18
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Stress Test
- Reflections on Financial Crises
- By: Timothy F. Geithner
- Narrated by: Timothy F. Geithner
- Length: 18 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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Stress Test is the story of Tim Geithner’s education in financial crises. As president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and then as President Barack Obama’s secretary of the Treasury, Timothy F. Geithner helped the United States navigate the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression, from boom to bust to rescue to recovery.
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Gripping
- By Jean on 06-03-14
What listeners say about A Colossal Failure of Common Sense
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- Rahul Goswami
- 01-10-17
Great understanding of Wall Street
The way stories should be narrated. Really good book. Hope the author writes more books
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- robert
- 09-22-09
Entertaining, but not factual
Author is self-absored and was clearly a low-level trader at Lehman, so a lot of what is proffered is hearsay. Also, I really didn't care to know about his life story in the first 3 chapters - irrelevant and self-serving, not to mention poorly written. If you like hearing lots of dirt, regardless of source or validity, this might work for you. Forthcoming books and audio on Lehman's collapse will have far more credibility - I hope.
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3 people found this helpful
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Great book. Well read.
Listened to it many times. Well worth it. I will buy this book in print also.
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- John M. Fitzgerald
- 06-09-22
What History tells Us!
Our evolution continues, but just as in sports that this author loves, or the comfort of our society for the well to do, the idea if free capitalism is an illusion. Rules, laws, verification that those rules are beneficial is critical. The referees are what make the game work. These pure capitalism guys, libertarian thinkers such as Paulson are the problem. Dinosaurs whose age is passed.
The test will be how Covid rescue will compare to Wall Street rescue, money to the people versus to Wall Street, I am optimistic this rescue will fair better!!!
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- Kenneth
- 05-21-13
Excellent book with some tips on how to hustle!
Would you listen to A Colossal Failure of Common Sense again? Why?
I am writing this review after my second time listening to the audio book. My first listen was about 6 months ago. I consider this book an entertaining and educational experience.
What did you like best about this story?
The detail about some of the big trades that Larry and his group undertook while at Lehman. Larry's experiences trying to get into Wall Street were well worth the listen on those merits alone.
What does Erik Davies bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?
The attitude of the author comes through clearly. It was easy to follow along and the actor's voice was easy on the ears.
Any additional comments?
This book is more about the author's experiences. Lehman serves as a back drop until the final chapters of the book. This book gives you the downfall of Lehman but Larry's biography would do well in motivational seminars. This book is great for investing nuts and financial history buffs.
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- Dean
- 07-24-10
Two Books in One
This book is pretty book. It comes in 2 audio files. The 2nd is the story of the Lehman collapse. The first is the author's life story. If you just care about Lehman, then skip to the second file. You will miss the connection to a couple of the author's friends, but the rest of the story is complete.
The first audio file is not too bad either. But it is an entirely different story.
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- Arun Aggarwal
- 08-31-23
leverage works both ways . be flexible is the lesson . great and risk story.
Greatest story about greed and risk .
leverage works both ways .
one needs to be flexible.
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- Wade
- 08-09-09
Good read but lacking in philosophical learning
This book was a personal and impassioned account of the collapse of Lehman Brothers.
After a short explanation of how the author began his career at the firm he spins a fascinating yarn of brilliant and powerful people who saw the iceberg coming, but are unable to take the controls in time to save the ship.
The author on the one hand celebrates what great minds can accomplish in an unregulated 'free market' system while at the same time being shocked at the destruction such power can have when inevitable human flaws take their toll. It is the author's bafflement with the two sides of the same coin that the reader is left with.
While this book will not be the definitive history on the collapse on Lehman Brothers, it was a fascinating insiders look to the world of high finance. I was riveted until the end and would recommend it.
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3 people found this helpful
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- Peanut
- 05-07-24
Great story with enjoyable background
This story is required listening to understand the hubris of 2008 financial crisis and the people behind it.
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- Aubrey
- 08-21-24
A Supplement to Lewis's "The Big Short"
I don't usually write reviews but as book that is neither particularly good or bad, I thought I had to write something. At first was turned off by the tone of the author who does not hide his "Wall Street Apologist" stance but if you're a politically neutral enough person, as I like to think I am, you can appreciate the wisdom of this first hand account of the crisis from someone who was there. When historians compile the authoritative record of "what happened" in the years leading to 2008, this book will have a place in that narrative. Despite it covering the same topics and not being as well written as "The Big Short," it has a lot of personality and is rather entertaining.
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