Bailout : an inside account of how Washington abandoned main street while rescuing Wall Street /

Now a senior fellow at New York University Law School, Barofsky was the first special inspector general for the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), a $700 billion bank bailout designed to prop up the financial sector in the aftermath of the subprime mortgage crisis. This book is basically a tell-all of his nearly two-and-a-half years in that office; it is filled with interesting behind-the-scenes accounts of important TARP-related meetings and hearings. Historians of the financial crisis will thus find the book of value. Political economists will also find the book of interest, however, because Barofsky's account shows how thoroughly captured the Treasury Department is by Wall Street. Even programs passed by Congress to help underwater homeowners, such as the Home Affordable Modification Program, ended up being extremely favorable to the banking industry upon implementation by Treasury. While self-serving in parts, Barofsky's story paints a clear picture of a Treasury Department unable to act in the best interests of taxpayers because of a combination of political forces and intellectual blind spots created by the revolving door between Wall Street and the Treasury Department. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduate students and above; general readers. J. C. Hall Beloit College

A former federal prosecutor and special inspector general in charge of oversight of the Troubled Asset Relief Program, Barofsky offers this account of the government bailouts that saved big banks, but may have ignored the broader interests of the public at large. Narrator Joe Barrett's narration makes the text-which can be dry at times-accessible and engaging. His everyman delivery will resonate with listeners, while his skillful, well-paced narration and top-notch characterizations do justice to an important book about a topic that still affects all Americans. A Free Press hardcover. (July) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

In this, his first book, Barofsky (senior fellow, New York Univ. Sch. of Law) presents an ugly kiss-and-tell of his 30 months as the special inspector general overseeing the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) from December 2008 until March 2011. He reveals unbelievably petty power struggles at the most senior levels. Saving face consumes more intellect and energy than saving taxpayers money or saving the economy. Admittedly one man's experience, potentially affected by political bias, Barofsky's book nevertheless pre-sents an unsavory insight into Washington, revealing a status quo that requires serious change immediately. VERDICT Not for the casual listener or one with blood pressure issues, this audiobook, capably narrated by actor and Audie Award nominee Joe Barrett, is recommended with reservations for students of political science.-M. Gail Preslar, formerly with Business Lib., Eastman Chemical Co., Kingsport, TN (c) Copyright 2013. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

A former watchdog in the federal government attacks the officials who perpetuated the financial meltdown by kowtowing to behemoth banks and Wall Street firms while abandoning the public interest. Barofsky was a federal prosecutor in New York in 2008 when his boss encouraged him to apply for a newly created position in Washington, D.C., as inspector general overseeing the Troubled Asset Relief Program. Created during the waning months of the Bush administration and inherited by President Obama, TARP allocated hundreds of billions of dollars of taxpayer money to allegedly stabilize too-big-to-fail banks, strengthen investment firms and rescue homeowners from foreclosure. Ignorant of cutthroat Washington politics, Barofsky, a Democrat, won confirmation by the U.S. Senate despite Republican Party dominance and set out to account for the TARP spending in a transparent, nonpartisan manner. However, as he demonstrates in his energetically written first-person account, he and his staff met resistance every time they tried to share the truth with Congress, the White House and the American public. The villains are numerous, with Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner at the top of the list. Of course, it's possible that some of the negative characterizations shared by Barofsky involve score-settling or well-intentioned differences. That seems unlikely, however, because the author provides copious evidence of the petty attacks on his office by Geithner, other Treasury Department officials, White House staff members, senators and representatives, coddled journalists and ill-informed bloggers. Barofsky's account contains enough self-deprecation that he does not come off as a holier-than-thou hero. A courageous, insightful book that offers no cause for optimism.]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.