Book description
The 1980s opened with the prime interest rate at an astonishing 21. 5
percent, leading to a severe recession with unemployment reaching nearly
11 percent. Depression-like conditions befell the agricultural sector, a
bubble burst in the energy sector, a rolling real estate recession swept
the country, the entire thrift industry was badly insolvent and the
major money center banks were loaded with third world debt. Some 3,000
bank and thrifts failed, including nine of Texas' 10 largest, and
Continental Illinois, which, at the time, was the 7
th
largest bank in the nation. These severe conditions were not only
handled without creating a panic, the economy actually embarked on the
longest peacetime expansion in history.
In Senseless Panic: How
Washington Failed America, William M. Isaac, Chairman of the
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) during the banking and
S&L crises of the 1980s, details what was different about 2008's
meltdown that allowed the failure of a comparative handful of
institutions to nearly shut down the world's financial system. The
book also tells the rousing story of Isaac's time at the FDIC. With
accessible and engaging prose, Isaac:
- Details the mistakes that led to the panic of 2008 and 2009
- Demystifies the conditions America faced in 2008, and
- Provides a roadmap for avoiding similar shutdowns and panics in
the future
Senseless Panicis a provocative, quick-paced, and thoughtful
analysis of what went wrong with the nation's banking system and a
blunt indictment of United States policy.
William M. Isaac is Chairman of LECG Global
Financial Services and one of the world's foremost authorities on bank
regulation. He served as chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance
Corpor-ation (FDIC) during the banking and S&L crises of the
1980s, when some 3,000 banks and thrifts failed, including nine of the
ten largest Texas banks as well as Continental Illinois, the nation's
seventh largest bank. Isaac writes frequently for the Wall Street
Journal, the New York Times, Forbes, the
Washington Post, American Banker, and other leading
publications; testifies before Congress; makes regular appearances on
leading television and radio programs; and is a contributor to CNBC.
