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All the Presidents' Bankers: The Hidden Alliances that Drive American Power
Who rules America?
All the Presidents' Bankers is a groundbreaking narrative of how an elite group of men transformed the American economy and government, dictated foreign and domestic policy, and shaped world history.
Culled from original presidential archival documents, All the Presidents' Bankers delivers an explosive account of the hundred-year interdependence between the White House and Wall Street that transcends a simple analysis of money driving politics—or greed driving bankers.
Prins ushers us into the intimate world of exclusive clubs, vacation spots, and Ivy League universities that binds presidents and financiers. She unravels the multi-generational blood, intermarriage, and protégé relationships that have confined national influence to a privileged cluster of people. These families and individuals recycle their power through elected office and private channels in Washington, DC.
All the Presidents' Bankers sheds new light on pivotal historic events—such as why, after the Panic of 1907, America's dominant bankers convened to fashion the Federal Reserve System; how J. P. Morgan's ambitions motivated President Wilson during World War I; how Chase and National City Bank chairmen worked secretly with President Roosevelt to rescue capitalism during the Great Depression while J.P. Morgan Jr. invited Roosevelt's son yachting; and how American financiers collaborated with President Truman to construct the World Bank and IMF after World War II.
Prins divulges how, through the Cold War and Vietnam era, presidents and bankers pushed America's superpower status and expansion abroad, while promoting broadly democratic values and social welfare at home. But from the 1970s, Wall Street's rush to secure Middle East oil profits altered the nature of political-financial alliances. Bankers' profit motive trumped heritage and allegiance to public service, while presidents lost control over the economy—as was dramatically evident in the financial crisis of 2008.
This unprecedented history of American power illuminates how the same financiers retained their authoritative position through history, swaying presidents regardless of party affiliation. All the Presidents' Bankers explores the alarming global repercussions of a system lacking barriers between public office and private power. Prins leaves us with an ominous choice: either we break the alliances of the power elite, or they will break us.
All the Presidents' Bankers is a groundbreaking narrative of how an elite group of men transformed the American economy and government, dictated foreign and domestic policy, and shaped world history.
Culled from original presidential archival documents, All the Presidents' Bankers delivers an explosive account of the hundred-year interdependence between the White House and Wall Street that transcends a simple analysis of money driving politics—or greed driving bankers.
Prins ushers us into the intimate world of exclusive clubs, vacation spots, and Ivy League universities that binds presidents and financiers. She unravels the multi-generational blood, intermarriage, and protégé relationships that have confined national influence to a privileged cluster of people. These families and individuals recycle their power through elected office and private channels in Washington, DC.
All the Presidents' Bankers sheds new light on pivotal historic events—such as why, after the Panic of 1907, America's dominant bankers convened to fashion the Federal Reserve System; how J. P. Morgan's ambitions motivated President Wilson during World War I; how Chase and National City Bank chairmen worked secretly with President Roosevelt to rescue capitalism during the Great Depression while J.P. Morgan Jr. invited Roosevelt's son yachting; and how American financiers collaborated with President Truman to construct the World Bank and IMF after World War II.
Prins divulges how, through the Cold War and Vietnam era, presidents and bankers pushed America's superpower status and expansion abroad, while promoting broadly democratic values and social welfare at home. But from the 1970s, Wall Street's rush to secure Middle East oil profits altered the nature of political-financial alliances. Bankers' profit motive trumped heritage and allegiance to public service, while presidents lost control over the economy—as was dramatically evident in the financial crisis of 2008.
This unprecedented history of American power illuminates how the same financiers retained their authoritative position through history, swaying presidents regardless of party affiliation. All the Presidents' Bankers explores the alarming global repercussions of a system lacking barriers between public office and private power. Prins leaves us with an ominous choice: either we break the alliances of the power elite, or they will break us.
544 pages, Hardcover
First published February 25, 2014
150 people are currently reading
2313 people want to read
About the author
Nomi Prins
15 books225 followersNomi Prins is a former global investment banker, financial journalist, and sought-after international speaker and economic advisor, Her new book Collusion: How Central Bankers Rigged the World is out May 1, 2018. Her previous books include All the Presidents' Bankers: The Hidden Alliances that Drive American Power , It Takes a Pillage: Behind the Bailouts, Bonuses, and Backroom Deals from Washington to Wall Street, Other People's Money: The Corporate Mugging of America, a devastating expose into corporate corruption, political collusion and Wall Street deception which was chosen as a Best Book of 2004 by The Economist, Barron's and The Library Journal., Jacked, and the thriller, The Trail, published under her pseudonym, Natalia Prentice which was selected to Forbes CEO Book Club in April, 2008.
Before becoming a journalist, Nomi worked on Wall Street as a managing director at Goldman Sachs, and a Senior managing director running the international analytics group at Bear Stearns in London. She has appeared internationally on BBC World and BBC Radio and nationally in the U.S. on CNN, CNBC, MSNBC, PBS, CSPAN and other TV stations and been featured on dozens of radio shows including CNNRadio, Marketplace Radio, Air America, NPR, and various BBC stations. Her articles have appeared in The New York Times, The Daily Beast, Newsday, Fortune, Forbes, Mother Jones, Slate.com, The Guardian UK, The Nation, The American Prospect, and other publications.
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October 25, 2017
On the evening of October 24, 2017 the Senate passed a bill, with Vice President Pence breaking the 50-50 tie, to limit the right of citizens to enter in class action lawsuits against banks and credit card providers. Instead people who felt they were cheated by big financial institutions could only enter a process known as forced arbitration, which “takes power away from ordinary people and gives it to big banks and Wall Street companies that already have an unfair advantage,” Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) said in a statement. “By voting to take rights away from customers, the Senate voted tonight to side with Wells Fargo lobbyists over the people we serve.” The history written by Prins moves on, unabated.
Original Review
This is an excellent history of the influence of bankers on the executive branch (and Americans as well as the world) in the 20th and early 21st centuries.
Most interesting was the contrast between the relative alignment of banking, foreign and domestic policy which started to change at the end of the Johnson administration as compared to the mercenary, selfish greed that has dominated since then. As Prins observes, “The bankers’ push to become international financial gods would increasingly sever them from an explicit alignment with the country’s greater needs and blind them to the suffering of developing countries, many of which were losing their economic sovereignty to private US (and later European) bankers and their clients. Bankers were rapidly discarding the implicit mantra of ‘America first’ in favor of, simply ‘Go where the money is.’”
The final two chapters alone sum up the tragedies that have only accelerated and been made worse in the Bush/Clinton/Bush/Obama years. Prins again, “Times had truly changed. No longer were family ties and inbred relationships the key to internal ascension at the nation’s biggest banks; a tough predatory, more sociopathic nature was required and rewarded. Mental combat, voracious killer instincts and acquisitions of other banks (with their share of citizens’ deposits) propelled the banking elite to the top of their field. Huge compensations followed.”
Democrats who believe that Clinton and Obama speak for common folk are in for a rude awakening. It’s hard to imagine how much worse Dole, McCain or Romney administrations might have been. But the inescapable conclusion is that banking interests would have done their best to destroy the world economy regardless of who was in power. Unfortunately, the complexity of the issues involved and inside information needed for citizens to do something tangible to change the status quo don’t bode well for a better future.
Original Review
This is an excellent history of the influence of bankers on the executive branch (and Americans as well as the world) in the 20th and early 21st centuries.
Most interesting was the contrast between the relative alignment of banking, foreign and domestic policy which started to change at the end of the Johnson administration as compared to the mercenary, selfish greed that has dominated since then. As Prins observes, “The bankers’ push to become international financial gods would increasingly sever them from an explicit alignment with the country’s greater needs and blind them to the suffering of developing countries, many of which were losing their economic sovereignty to private US (and later European) bankers and their clients. Bankers were rapidly discarding the implicit mantra of ‘America first’ in favor of, simply ‘Go where the money is.’”
The final two chapters alone sum up the tragedies that have only accelerated and been made worse in the Bush/Clinton/Bush/Obama years. Prins again, “Times had truly changed. No longer were family ties and inbred relationships the key to internal ascension at the nation’s biggest banks; a tough predatory, more sociopathic nature was required and rewarded. Mental combat, voracious killer instincts and acquisitions of other banks (with their share of citizens’ deposits) propelled the banking elite to the top of their field. Huge compensations followed.”
Democrats who believe that Clinton and Obama speak for common folk are in for a rude awakening. It’s hard to imagine how much worse Dole, McCain or Romney administrations might have been. But the inescapable conclusion is that banking interests would have done their best to destroy the world economy regardless of who was in power. Unfortunately, the complexity of the issues involved and inside information needed for citizens to do something tangible to change the status quo don’t bode well for a better future.
May 16, 2022
This book would make a nice companion to C. Wright Mills's The Power Elite. There are lots of fantastical ideas out there about the Illuminati or some other secret cabal running the world. The truth is that class interests run things openly and it's on the historical record. This sad truth is much less colorful but the proof is there if you care to look for it. This book provides some of that proof - clarifying in great detail the rock solid links that exist between powerful bankers and American presidents over the last 130 years.
All the Presidents' Bankers is not a fun read. Nomi Prins gets very granular as she exposes how bankers manipulate the levers of power for their own advantage. This book requires patience, but it is also rewarding if you're willing to put in the time.
It was worth reading this book to help fill in some of my own gaps in knowledge about the context and timing of important events that don't get a lot of attention - like the Mexican financial crisis in the 1990s or the end of the gold standard in the 1970s for example. This book really shines when going into detail about how the Federal Reserve was originally created, in secret - by bankers for bankers.
If this sort of book is in your wheelhouse it deserves your attention.
All the Presidents' Bankers is not a fun read. Nomi Prins gets very granular as she exposes how bankers manipulate the levers of power for their own advantage. This book requires patience, but it is also rewarding if you're willing to put in the time.
It was worth reading this book to help fill in some of my own gaps in knowledge about the context and timing of important events that don't get a lot of attention - like the Mexican financial crisis in the 1990s or the end of the gold standard in the 1970s for example. This book really shines when going into detail about how the Federal Reserve was originally created, in secret - by bankers for bankers.
If this sort of book is in your wheelhouse it deserves your attention.
June 8, 2015
I was going to give this book only four stars because the first part is slow going. Then I realized that is only because that part relates to the early years of the 20th century before I was born. It cannot have the same impact as the later pages that tell of the times with which I am familiar.
But that early story is a vital part of the whole. The purpose of this book is to show how banking and politics have been closely entwined for over 100 years; the great crisis of 2008 is only the latest iteration of a cycle that starts with increasing credit, proceeds through "good times" then over-extension of credit, finally ending in collapse. The familiar image is of the expanding balloon that pops only for a new balloon to begin inflating.
At the core of the problem of capitalism is debt. The history of the "success" of capitalism is a history of the capture of the world by debt. My community is in debt, my state is in debt (the worst of all fifty states) and America is in such deep debt that it is impossible to see how it can be retired, ever. You can't hear the news without knowing there are many countries in debt with demands for austerity being placed not on banks that wildly extended loans, but on the people who had no part in taking the loans.
The banks, which have been given the privilege of creating money then making money on that creation, are responsible for our dire situation. It is in the interest, literally, of a bank to extend as much credit as it can in order to make as much money as it can. Making money from money has no value in itself to society. Value comes from what is done with money; what is built, what new products come to market, how many people are employed.
Traditionally, the banker was seen as a scrooge, a person who would lend only to the most creditworthy. This caution was well taken because the risk of losing the money lent kept the banker from acting foolishly. After all, he was dealing with the money of those who had deposited their funds with the bank. Were he to squander those funds on bad loans, his customers would have his head.
The United States has set the pace for deregulation of banking. The most dangerous feature of our banking system is the fractional reserve idea. Banks need only keep a small reserve, about 10 percent, on hand to take care of withdrawals. Beyond that they are free to lend 90 percent. If you put a dollar in a bank, that bank can then loan out nine dollars, creating the nine dollars as notations in an accounting book, that is, creating nine dollars out of thin air.
In addition, banks are corporations where any losses, any bankruptcy, does not extend to the owners of the bank. Yes, the bank can fail, but at no cost to the banker. Finally, Uncle Sam steps in with deposit insurance which is a promise to depositors that no matter what happens to the bank, their money is safe.
Put all this together and the banker is like a child with a key to a candy store. Why not take big risks in lending?
All the Presidents' Bankers tells us how this safety net for banks has been enlarged to cover the globe. Giant banks make great money from loans to developing countries (think Latin America, the Far East, Eastern Europe, Russia, etc.). When entire countries default on their debt, history tells us that public money will be called on to let private bank money off the hook.
With all the financial offices of the U.S. government filled with alumni of Wall Street, the grand plans whenever a financial crisis occurs are directed to protecting the banks. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is funded by member countries who put their public monies in. This means an IMF bailout takes those public funds, gives it to debtor countries so that it may be paid out to private banks that hold the loans.
In 2008 we saw the ultimate effect of this scam - too big to fail. By threatening to bring down the entire economic system, the largest banks are able to extort unlimited funds from government. The Federal Reserve (a part of the banking system, not a government agency) is now holding huge amounts of bad bank assets, which it could sweep up from banks in exchange for government debt (Treasury bills). Translation? The United States goes into a record amount of debt and the big banks are still whole, still operating, still making money.
As this book carefully documents, whereas once the banks needed the power of the Presidency to back their bailouts, they have now become so powerful that the President essentially stands aside while the alumni of Wall Street at the Treasury Department work with their former and future coworkers in the banks to come up with a bank rescue.
Though I have read several accounts of the banking disaster of 2008, this book uniquely builds up to that event with the history of similar, but simpler and easier to understand bailouts in the past. The reader is educated along the way so that when 2008 is reached, all the pieces and characters are in place for the drama to be fully appreciated.
After reading All the Presidents' Bankers, the outrage you have felt over what has happened to our economic system will be informed and all the greater for that. Being informed you will be able to speak out with understanding. If nothing else, you will be able to write your people in Congress with a demand for a break-up of the big banks supported by historical fact. The book is a dire warning.
We must break the banks up and increase regulations. The economic system has been gamed by the banks for the last time because there is nothing left in the public purse to provide another bailout. The next time will bring complete collapse. Capitalism is teetering. If you like what it has given you and you want it to continue in a stable form, you must get busy calling for change.
But that early story is a vital part of the whole. The purpose of this book is to show how banking and politics have been closely entwined for over 100 years; the great crisis of 2008 is only the latest iteration of a cycle that starts with increasing credit, proceeds through "good times" then over-extension of credit, finally ending in collapse. The familiar image is of the expanding balloon that pops only for a new balloon to begin inflating.
At the core of the problem of capitalism is debt. The history of the "success" of capitalism is a history of the capture of the world by debt. My community is in debt, my state is in debt (the worst of all fifty states) and America is in such deep debt that it is impossible to see how it can be retired, ever. You can't hear the news without knowing there are many countries in debt with demands for austerity being placed not on banks that wildly extended loans, but on the people who had no part in taking the loans.
The banks, which have been given the privilege of creating money then making money on that creation, are responsible for our dire situation. It is in the interest, literally, of a bank to extend as much credit as it can in order to make as much money as it can. Making money from money has no value in itself to society. Value comes from what is done with money; what is built, what new products come to market, how many people are employed.
Traditionally, the banker was seen as a scrooge, a person who would lend only to the most creditworthy. This caution was well taken because the risk of losing the money lent kept the banker from acting foolishly. After all, he was dealing with the money of those who had deposited their funds with the bank. Were he to squander those funds on bad loans, his customers would have his head.
The United States has set the pace for deregulation of banking. The most dangerous feature of our banking system is the fractional reserve idea. Banks need only keep a small reserve, about 10 percent, on hand to take care of withdrawals. Beyond that they are free to lend 90 percent. If you put a dollar in a bank, that bank can then loan out nine dollars, creating the nine dollars as notations in an accounting book, that is, creating nine dollars out of thin air.
In addition, banks are corporations where any losses, any bankruptcy, does not extend to the owners of the bank. Yes, the bank can fail, but at no cost to the banker. Finally, Uncle Sam steps in with deposit insurance which is a promise to depositors that no matter what happens to the bank, their money is safe.
Put all this together and the banker is like a child with a key to a candy store. Why not take big risks in lending?
All the Presidents' Bankers tells us how this safety net for banks has been enlarged to cover the globe. Giant banks make great money from loans to developing countries (think Latin America, the Far East, Eastern Europe, Russia, etc.). When entire countries default on their debt, history tells us that public money will be called on to let private bank money off the hook.
With all the financial offices of the U.S. government filled with alumni of Wall Street, the grand plans whenever a financial crisis occurs are directed to protecting the banks. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is funded by member countries who put their public monies in. This means an IMF bailout takes those public funds, gives it to debtor countries so that it may be paid out to private banks that hold the loans.
In 2008 we saw the ultimate effect of this scam - too big to fail. By threatening to bring down the entire economic system, the largest banks are able to extort unlimited funds from government. The Federal Reserve (a part of the banking system, not a government agency) is now holding huge amounts of bad bank assets, which it could sweep up from banks in exchange for government debt (Treasury bills). Translation? The United States goes into a record amount of debt and the big banks are still whole, still operating, still making money.
As this book carefully documents, whereas once the banks needed the power of the Presidency to back their bailouts, they have now become so powerful that the President essentially stands aside while the alumni of Wall Street at the Treasury Department work with their former and future coworkers in the banks to come up with a bank rescue.
Though I have read several accounts of the banking disaster of 2008, this book uniquely builds up to that event with the history of similar, but simpler and easier to understand bailouts in the past. The reader is educated along the way so that when 2008 is reached, all the pieces and characters are in place for the drama to be fully appreciated.
After reading All the Presidents' Bankers, the outrage you have felt over what has happened to our economic system will be informed and all the greater for that. Being informed you will be able to speak out with understanding. If nothing else, you will be able to write your people in Congress with a demand for a break-up of the big banks supported by historical fact. The book is a dire warning.
We must break the banks up and increase regulations. The economic system has been gamed by the banks for the last time because there is nothing left in the public purse to provide another bailout. The next time will bring complete collapse. Capitalism is teetering. If you like what it has given you and you want it to continue in a stable form, you must get busy calling for change.
October 31, 2023
If you're a little bit of a psycho and see yourself fitting into the intersection of a venn diagram with corruption, finance and geo politics.. This book is for you. Its technical at times, dense and can be dry for those who might not have the stamina to read roughly 100 + plus years of the relationships between the government and the banking elite. The book reviews the relationships between the banking sector and the government, how close these two parties work, the ease of access given to the financial elite by the oval office and the deals and relationships that are fortified.
What always strikes me when I read historical books like this is how much linage plays a factor into success from virtually any time period in America all the way up to the late 1970's. You have men (Always men) that are born into political royalty, with family members in high government positions, they go to elite schools like Harvard and Yale.
They join elite country clubs and from there they make business deals, they make political deals. They influence every level of government by offering their 'concerns' on the economy which is often times centered around their need to skirt the rules everyone else has to play by. Their advice is given as something that serves the country as a whole but really serves their interests. We have seen this play out with multiple decades of neo liberalism and the crumbling of a fractured consensus and political order in Washington which is still strong today. These individuals while being born into the top positions in the world, have a sense of entitlement, accomplishment and belief they're some self made entrepreneur. They regularly admonish handouts or policies by the government which has an inkling of social spending. They preach free market fundamentals and the need for governments to step aside in business affairs but routinely lobby for laws that directly contradict the free market doctrine they so publicly abide by. This fuels the populist resentment which has fractured neo liberalism but not totally destroyed it. This book is essentially 100 years of governments and the financial elite working hand in hand, often times using public tax payer money to cover the risks of someone who has an 8-9 figure net worth. Taking your risk and placing it on the public is supposedly what the antithesis of capitalism is supposed to be.
This is perhaps the most frustrating aspect, as a citizen you or I cannot call the oval office and lecture the president on why this regulation or policy can be detrimental to the public. The banking elite have this privilege, often times setting up a meeting with presidents to present their ideology as the correct path. This practice still goes on today, make no mistake this is oligarchy not capitalism which is the foundation for so much political chaos in todays world. With that being said, I enjoyed this book, I would give it around 3-4 stars but keep in mind. I am exactly the kind of psycho that enjoys books like this.
What always strikes me when I read historical books like this is how much linage plays a factor into success from virtually any time period in America all the way up to the late 1970's. You have men (Always men) that are born into political royalty, with family members in high government positions, they go to elite schools like Harvard and Yale.
They join elite country clubs and from there they make business deals, they make political deals. They influence every level of government by offering their 'concerns' on the economy which is often times centered around their need to skirt the rules everyone else has to play by. Their advice is given as something that serves the country as a whole but really serves their interests. We have seen this play out with multiple decades of neo liberalism and the crumbling of a fractured consensus and political order in Washington which is still strong today. These individuals while being born into the top positions in the world, have a sense of entitlement, accomplishment and belief they're some self made entrepreneur. They regularly admonish handouts or policies by the government which has an inkling of social spending. They preach free market fundamentals and the need for governments to step aside in business affairs but routinely lobby for laws that directly contradict the free market doctrine they so publicly abide by. This fuels the populist resentment which has fractured neo liberalism but not totally destroyed it. This book is essentially 100 years of governments and the financial elite working hand in hand, often times using public tax payer money to cover the risks of someone who has an 8-9 figure net worth. Taking your risk and placing it on the public is supposedly what the antithesis of capitalism is supposed to be.
This is perhaps the most frustrating aspect, as a citizen you or I cannot call the oval office and lecture the president on why this regulation or policy can be detrimental to the public. The banking elite have this privilege, often times setting up a meeting with presidents to present their ideology as the correct path. This practice still goes on today, make no mistake this is oligarchy not capitalism which is the foundation for so much political chaos in todays world. With that being said, I enjoyed this book, I would give it around 3-4 stars but keep in mind. I am exactly the kind of psycho that enjoys books like this.
March 3, 2015
An informative book about how the banking industry gained power in national and global politics as well as economics. While topic is very complex and could have been inaccessible to all but trained financiers and economics if written by an academic in those fields, the author writes for a lay audience using short, journalistic "chapters" that capture the essence of the issues chronologically. While the bankers of 100 years past, though clearly interested in profits, had a sense of social obligation and even sacrifice, bankers today are clearly portrayed as only concerned with profit and incredible power. The book ends on a scary and depressing note with only the most perfunctory warning about the need to break the bond between the presidency and banking (which by the end was self-evident); no suggestions of HOW to survive the tyranny of banking is given.
Want to read
February 19, 2017
"...I was talking about a novel I had written, a historical novel on the 1929 crash called Black Tuesday. And what had happened as one of the segments in that book was that six bankers had gotten together at the behest of the acting chairman of the Morgan bank,..." *
* in: https://popularresistance.org/nomi-pr...
http://www.occupy.com/article/all-pre...
June 15, 2016
A book that anyone wishing to understand how US economy works and the why behind the major economic challenges in this country needs to read.
July 5, 2017
Two takeaways from ‘All The Presidents’ Bankers’. First, that not only do we not learn from history, we do it consistently and frequently. Second, that depressions, recessions and bail outs are almost always followed on the heels of deregulation. Now that Glass-Stegall has been thoroughly gutted, my local representative Robert Pittenger is aiming at Dodd-Frank. Time to invest in gold.
February 26, 2016
After the 2008 economic downturn, when the so-called "free" market banking system collapsed of its own petard, thus foreclosing on 11 million homeowners in the U.S., the fire-bombs from two camps--the Keynesians and the Freidmanists or monitorists--have been flying, both sides blaming the other for the disaster that, in all actuality was caused by greed, an adjunct of appetite, the thing all commerce is based upon, even though its propagandists will argue that "the market", whatever that's supposed to be, is based on reason.
We hear all sorts of nonsense as confirmation-bias-enslaved "economic experts" blame the Federal Reserve, or the "gubbermint" in general or other factors, all of which did have to play a part in the huge game, mainly because the Federal Reserve is exactly that, a reserve bank that provides reserve funding should the banking system run close to collapse. What is one to do when confronted by tsunamis of over-charged bile?
One reads about the American banking system and its long-standing relationship with the federal government, that's what.
Nomi Prins' latest book is full of amazing, often unknown facts and almost arcane history about how "the market" relates to "the government" and how both depend upon one another. Who would have known that J. P. Morgan and Nelson Rockefeller, two major American bankers, got so dog tired of the endless panics (downturns) the then "free" market was wreaking on the bankers (and the polity) that, by 1907, a big one, they decided it was time for a reserve banking system? These men and other big players met at a Georgia leisure spot, hashed out their plans, wrote up the final document and presented it to the Wilson administration and Congress. All parties agreed and by 1913, the Federal Reserve, a privately owned bank, was brought into being without saying Klatuu Nikto Barrata even once.
Prins then goes on to detail the facts and nothing but the facts surrounding the how's and why's operatives within The New Deal clamped-down on the banking system, something that resulted in almost 50 years of relative economic stability. All this fascinates those curious about the inner workings of banking and finance in general.
How I managed to stumble on this mess is a question I will be asking for years into the future. Since I am interested in politics, an interest in economics is a likely sidekick. The Bretton Woods agreement, the end of the Silver Certificate, the dawn of fiat banking, the arguments over fiat banking and the latest developments in terms of derivatives, credit default swaps and more are all covered in detail here.
This is not My Easy Reader territory, but for those interested in more than ideological conspiracy theories, this should be a go-to book that will put the mythology to rest once and for all.
We hear all sorts of nonsense as confirmation-bias-enslaved "economic experts" blame the Federal Reserve, or the "gubbermint" in general or other factors, all of which did have to play a part in the huge game, mainly because the Federal Reserve is exactly that, a reserve bank that provides reserve funding should the banking system run close to collapse. What is one to do when confronted by tsunamis of over-charged bile?
One reads about the American banking system and its long-standing relationship with the federal government, that's what.
Nomi Prins' latest book is full of amazing, often unknown facts and almost arcane history about how "the market" relates to "the government" and how both depend upon one another. Who would have known that J. P. Morgan and Nelson Rockefeller, two major American bankers, got so dog tired of the endless panics (downturns) the then "free" market was wreaking on the bankers (and the polity) that, by 1907, a big one, they decided it was time for a reserve banking system? These men and other big players met at a Georgia leisure spot, hashed out their plans, wrote up the final document and presented it to the Wilson administration and Congress. All parties agreed and by 1913, the Federal Reserve, a privately owned bank, was brought into being without saying Klatuu Nikto Barrata even once.
Prins then goes on to detail the facts and nothing but the facts surrounding the how's and why's operatives within The New Deal clamped-down on the banking system, something that resulted in almost 50 years of relative economic stability. All this fascinates those curious about the inner workings of banking and finance in general.
How I managed to stumble on this mess is a question I will be asking for years into the future. Since I am interested in politics, an interest in economics is a likely sidekick. The Bretton Woods agreement, the end of the Silver Certificate, the dawn of fiat banking, the arguments over fiat banking and the latest developments in terms of derivatives, credit default swaps and more are all covered in detail here.
This is not My Easy Reader territory, but for those interested in more than ideological conspiracy theories, this should be a go-to book that will put the mythology to rest once and for all.
March 25, 2016
Prins is no lover of bankers, and by the end of her book, it is easy to share her point of view. In a year by year, administration by administration approach that is at times painfully detailed, she describes the politics that have created symbiotic financial political arrangements of today. Starting with the end of the 19th century, her work narrates the political machinations of banking firms to secure government underwriting for their speculation, of politicians anxious for popular support and Wall Street donations, and the everybody else who is caught in the middle.
Quick to condemn the decisions of the financial elite as driven merely by a lust for power, her stance can be forgiven in part as decade after decade of destructive deals are forged for the benefit of an elite few. Personally, the book was highly informative regarding the following:
* The change in banker focus from stated public good to private profit
* The creation of the Federal Reserve, and how it exists for the benefit of bank speculation
* The utilization of international finance as a national strategic weapon
* The eerie cycle of speculation, collapse, and government bailout that was repeated at least every decade
* The collusion of both parties with financial power, with unprecedented lack of legal enforcement on the part of the Obama administration
* Finally, the utterly broken nature of our financial system
Recommended.
Quick to condemn the decisions of the financial elite as driven merely by a lust for power, her stance can be forgiven in part as decade after decade of destructive deals are forged for the benefit of an elite few. Personally, the book was highly informative regarding the following:
* The change in banker focus from stated public good to private profit
* The creation of the Federal Reserve, and how it exists for the benefit of bank speculation
* The utilization of international finance as a national strategic weapon
* The eerie cycle of speculation, collapse, and government bailout that was repeated at least every decade
* The collusion of both parties with financial power, with unprecedented lack of legal enforcement on the part of the Obama administration
* Finally, the utterly broken nature of our financial system
Recommended.
May 16, 2014
This book is as substantial in content as it is in size - and not a page too long. A scholarly work, it takes the reader through the history of banking from the late 1800s to the present day. It highlights the impact American banking has had (and is still having) on world affairs and traces the path taken for it to achieve such influence. So far so good but there was an issue. Throughout the book, I got the feeling that Ms Prins was asking that I read as much between the lines as she wrote on them - if not more. She spurred this sensation on in no small measure by a statement on page 275:
“In 1973, Rockefeller established the Trilateral Commission… an elite organisation that gave influential private-sector men ways to retain global power… and spread ‘democratic capitalism’ …which in practice means western financial control over international economies.”
The Trilateral Commission clearly constitutes a dark cauldron of manipulation with representatives at all Bilderberg Group meetings.
Prior to this, on page 255, she took a sideswipe at John McCloy’s handling of the inquiry into the assassination of John Kennedy.
This book makes compelling reading. I’d be very interested in hearing your opinions.
“In 1973, Rockefeller established the Trilateral Commission… an elite organisation that gave influential private-sector men ways to retain global power… and spread ‘democratic capitalism’ …which in practice means western financial control over international economies.”
The Trilateral Commission clearly constitutes a dark cauldron of manipulation with representatives at all Bilderberg Group meetings.
Prior to this, on page 255, she took a sideswipe at John McCloy’s handling of the inquiry into the assassination of John Kennedy.
This book makes compelling reading. I’d be very interested in hearing your opinions.
September 27, 2014
Sample thought:
"In Washington, Republicans and Democrats both concluded that excessive reliance on bankers to stabilize the financial system in times of turbulence was too high a risk to their own influence over the country, and possibly damaging to America's status in the world. The axiom that the group that controlled the money controlled the country remained true. But with the nation struggling economically, such a condition had political implications and had to be navigated accordingly.
Taft knew this when he campaigned on a vow to continue Roosevelt's reform policies, including the trustbusting activities Roosevelt had set in motion. Though his own background was largely blue-blooded and warm toward the financiers, he knew the population blamed the bankers for their problems and that the Democrats would capitalize on those suspicions if he didn't balance his support for business interests with empathy for the public.The tactic worked. In the presidential election of 1908 Taft won handily over populist Democrat William Jennings Bryan, even as the country was experiencing a post-Panic recession."
"In Washington, Republicans and Democrats both concluded that excessive reliance on bankers to stabilize the financial system in times of turbulence was too high a risk to their own influence over the country, and possibly damaging to America's status in the world. The axiom that the group that controlled the money controlled the country remained true. But with the nation struggling economically, such a condition had political implications and had to be navigated accordingly.
Taft knew this when he campaigned on a vow to continue Roosevelt's reform policies, including the trustbusting activities Roosevelt had set in motion. Though his own background was largely blue-blooded and warm toward the financiers, he knew the population blamed the bankers for their problems and that the Democrats would capitalize on those suspicions if he didn't balance his support for business interests with empathy for the public.The tactic worked. In the presidential election of 1908 Taft won handily over populist Democrat William Jennings Bryan, even as the country was experiencing a post-Panic recession."
October 3, 2014
As a history lesson, it could make a wicked and dramatic 10 part miniseries. But when it really sinks in how war and global/cultural strife were used over the last century to keep the masses ignorant of how these self proclaimed "captains of industry" screwed the entire global community over, you're head wants to pop. I mean, really, the situation is what it is because we continue to allow crooks to run the show with impunity. I don't think this is news to anyone anymore, but All the President's Bankers will be useful and inexhaustible going forward for those who want to know the matter of fact details of what has allowed this EPIC scale corruption to persist under the guise of freedom and democracy. Rated 4 out of 5 not because it isn't well researched or even that it isn't well written, but it is rather dry and heavy with dates and names for long stretches. Still, a must read for those interested in the variety of topics and historical events that Nomi Prins covers here. As has been said "Nomi knows and now Nomi tells."
May 8, 2024
“SEEING OUR POLITICAL HISTORY THROUGH WALL STREET’S DESIRES”
It is not necessary to have a deep understanding of financial principles to read ‘All the Presidents’ Bankers.’ If you understand basic concepts such as credit, bonds, securities, and trusts, you’ll be fine. If you need more assistance, the book includes a six-page glossary of financial terms. Ms. Prins explores the relationships between U.S. presidents and bankers, beginning in the early 1900s through to present day. The book was published in 2014. At their core, banks and other financial institutions are focused on increasing profits. They run the moral gamut from conservative organizations that weigh their community’s or our nation’s best interests in addition to their making profits to usually greedy Wall Street creatures that would sell their mother to a slaughterhouse if it helps them increase their bottom line. Greed and the desire for more power will do that to a person. The author shows that financial titans not only play a key part in our nation’s development, the egotistical moneymen often clash with each other in how best to maximize profits by monkeying around in the political arena. The financial world is an insider’s game where they reap the most rewards while the small investor and Joe or Jane Sixpack get the crumbs. Like it or not, their actions affect all our lives and they are here to stay. These fellahs are not elected representatives to our government but powerbrokers who are part of an exclusive club and have Washington in its back pocket. No wonder they strut around with swelled heads the size of the Hindenburg.
Ms. Prins describes the impact of the Panic of 1907 that was the first worldwide financial crisis of the twentieth century and how U.S. banker elites devised the Federal Reserve System, then after World War II, the creation of the World Bank, and the International Money Fund in an effort to prevent such future problems. The book also covers how World War I and a complicit Washington helped propel the United States into a worldwide financial player. Each war increased American banks’ international power and profits. I thanked my lucky portfolio that Ms. Prins supplied an extensive list of characters in her work. I would’ve been lost in who was who in ‘All the Presidents’ Bankers’ without it. The book shows how such events as the Great Depression, the Iran hostage crisis of 1979, the S&L crisis of the 1980s and 90s, and the third world debt crisis were either partly caused or solely due to Wall Street bankers. Time and time again, Ms. Prins explains how Washington bailed out Wall Street’s reckless actions and left taxpayers with the bill and fallout. The 2008 Subprime shit show will not be the last time Wall Street gets away with murder. The author does an excellent job in showing how Wall Street used loopholes, coercion, legions of lobbyists, and hobnobbing with presidents to destroy safeguards in the bankers’ desires for more power and wealth. At this point, it is a revolving door where Wall Street executives move to working for an administration, then after destroying financial safeguards, return to Wall Street jobs and reap the rewards for their shenanigans. If justice was truly impartial and objective, prisons would have to add additional wings to house corporate big wig culprits. While there have been a few executives who have wound up in the slammer, most remain in power and receive ungodly bonuses. It is capitalism run amuck.
While Ms. Prins does explain the devastation wrought on third world countries by Wall Street, she does not address how our current large influx of Latin American immigrants is caused by Wall Street’s financial mismanagement and usury demands that brought about the harsh societal collapses in South and Central American countries including our next-door neighbor Mexico. A long line of both Republican and Democrat presidents, their administrations, the Federal Reserve, and the World Bank are complicit. The third-world countries can’t pick themselves up by their own bootstraps because our government and Wall Street keep beating them with the friggin’ things.
‘All the Presidents’ Bankers’ is an example of how power corrupts and as Seneca said, “For greed all nature is too little.” These arrogant “Masters of the Universe” will never be satisfied. They’ll always want more of everything and some dude (it’s overwhelmingly white men) will be eager to get his shot in one of the Wall Street poo-bah chairs. We peons are their play things and inconsequential beyond affecting their bottom line. George Carlin (1937-2008) was right. Wall Street’s desires trump public interest. I found ‘All the Presidents’ Bankers’ an enlightening infuriating historical work and well worth reading if your blood pressure can handle it. I’m not sure mine did.
(If you enjoy ‘All the Presidents’ Bankers,’ I recommend ‘Lords of Finance: The Bankers Who Broke the World’ by Liaquat Ahamed, ‘The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism’ by Naomi Klein, and ‘The Big Short; Inside the Doomsday Machine’ as well as ‘Liar’s Poker: Rising Through the Wreckage of Wall St.’ by Michael Lewis. Actually, anything written by Mr. Lewis is worth reading. I’ve also read very good reports about the 2017 book ‘The Chickenshit Club: Why the Justice Department Fails to Prosecute Executives’ by Jesse Eisinger, and the 2024 work ‘The Road to Freedom: Economics and the Good Society’ by Joseph Stiglitz, but I have not read them yet.)
It is not necessary to have a deep understanding of financial principles to read ‘All the Presidents’ Bankers.’ If you understand basic concepts such as credit, bonds, securities, and trusts, you’ll be fine. If you need more assistance, the book includes a six-page glossary of financial terms. Ms. Prins explores the relationships between U.S. presidents and bankers, beginning in the early 1900s through to present day. The book was published in 2014. At their core, banks and other financial institutions are focused on increasing profits. They run the moral gamut from conservative organizations that weigh their community’s or our nation’s best interests in addition to their making profits to usually greedy Wall Street creatures that would sell their mother to a slaughterhouse if it helps them increase their bottom line. Greed and the desire for more power will do that to a person. The author shows that financial titans not only play a key part in our nation’s development, the egotistical moneymen often clash with each other in how best to maximize profits by monkeying around in the political arena. The financial world is an insider’s game where they reap the most rewards while the small investor and Joe or Jane Sixpack get the crumbs. Like it or not, their actions affect all our lives and they are here to stay. These fellahs are not elected representatives to our government but powerbrokers who are part of an exclusive club and have Washington in its back pocket. No wonder they strut around with swelled heads the size of the Hindenburg.
Ms. Prins describes the impact of the Panic of 1907 that was the first worldwide financial crisis of the twentieth century and how U.S. banker elites devised the Federal Reserve System, then after World War II, the creation of the World Bank, and the International Money Fund in an effort to prevent such future problems. The book also covers how World War I and a complicit Washington helped propel the United States into a worldwide financial player. Each war increased American banks’ international power and profits. I thanked my lucky portfolio that Ms. Prins supplied an extensive list of characters in her work. I would’ve been lost in who was who in ‘All the Presidents’ Bankers’ without it. The book shows how such events as the Great Depression, the Iran hostage crisis of 1979, the S&L crisis of the 1980s and 90s, and the third world debt crisis were either partly caused or solely due to Wall Street bankers. Time and time again, Ms. Prins explains how Washington bailed out Wall Street’s reckless actions and left taxpayers with the bill and fallout. The 2008 Subprime shit show will not be the last time Wall Street gets away with murder. The author does an excellent job in showing how Wall Street used loopholes, coercion, legions of lobbyists, and hobnobbing with presidents to destroy safeguards in the bankers’ desires for more power and wealth. At this point, it is a revolving door where Wall Street executives move to working for an administration, then after destroying financial safeguards, return to Wall Street jobs and reap the rewards for their shenanigans. If justice was truly impartial and objective, prisons would have to add additional wings to house corporate big wig culprits. While there have been a few executives who have wound up in the slammer, most remain in power and receive ungodly bonuses. It is capitalism run amuck.
While Ms. Prins does explain the devastation wrought on third world countries by Wall Street, she does not address how our current large influx of Latin American immigrants is caused by Wall Street’s financial mismanagement and usury demands that brought about the harsh societal collapses in South and Central American countries including our next-door neighbor Mexico. A long line of both Republican and Democrat presidents, their administrations, the Federal Reserve, and the World Bank are complicit. The third-world countries can’t pick themselves up by their own bootstraps because our government and Wall Street keep beating them with the friggin’ things.
‘All the Presidents’ Bankers’ is an example of how power corrupts and as Seneca said, “For greed all nature is too little.” These arrogant “Masters of the Universe” will never be satisfied. They’ll always want more of everything and some dude (it’s overwhelmingly white men) will be eager to get his shot in one of the Wall Street poo-bah chairs. We peons are their play things and inconsequential beyond affecting their bottom line. George Carlin (1937-2008) was right. Wall Street’s desires trump public interest. I found ‘All the Presidents’ Bankers’ an enlightening infuriating historical work and well worth reading if your blood pressure can handle it. I’m not sure mine did.
(If you enjoy ‘All the Presidents’ Bankers,’ I recommend ‘Lords of Finance: The Bankers Who Broke the World’ by Liaquat Ahamed, ‘The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism’ by Naomi Klein, and ‘The Big Short; Inside the Doomsday Machine’ as well as ‘Liar’s Poker: Rising Through the Wreckage of Wall St.’ by Michael Lewis. Actually, anything written by Mr. Lewis is worth reading. I’ve also read very good reports about the 2017 book ‘The Chickenshit Club: Why the Justice Department Fails to Prosecute Executives’ by Jesse Eisinger, and the 2024 work ‘The Road to Freedom: Economics and the Good Society’ by Joseph Stiglitz, but I have not read them yet.)
August 25, 2014
Very informative accounting of the relationship between the most powerful financial players in US History and the office of the President of the United States. I really enjoyed reading more about John J McCloy. Over time I found that the start and end of each chapter provided the best analysis of the policies at any given time. The subheadings within each chapter read more like chronology of events without much analysis. Overall a must read!
March 17, 2017
Reads like a historical text book. I read little more than half and gave up.
November 4, 2018
I liked the links that were made throughout to the 2008 crisis. Though as a whole it was a bit repetitive and maybe a little less in depth than I would like
October 21, 2019
I've read a lot of books about empire and power: American and elsewise, rises and falls. I've studied the instruments: military and clandestine, diplomatic and nasty, social and economic. I've tried out the philosophical: ideas of dromology and dromocracy, or the weller-worn paths surrounding the Marxists and the Anarchists.
They're all interesting and illuminating, but in the end, I'm always left with a question. Wherefore all this? The spies and the diplomats and the generals all skitter about to the dromological demands of power, the politicians and businessmen in close pursuit, but I have always found less than complete satisfaction in explanations rooted in individuals under Arendtian forces or holistic evaluations of power and society.
It was, all along, Nomi Prins who held my answers. She held the missing link behind it all, the source of the messenger particles that move all the other intricate pieces along: it was All the Presidents' Bankers. Here it all comes together: power and class, expedience and sacrifice, motivation and action. This book alone will not paint the whole picture, but without the knowledge herein one lacks the frame. The bankers.
Above all, I'm left with one difficult observation.
Here and now, in deep, especially America-deep where time dilation is reaching some local Lorentzian limit, the bankers are unfortunately not wrong. To cease our sacrifice at the altar of growth, to limit our ability to compete with deregulation abroad, to properly protect our own at home, would break the system. The beast must be fed. When it hungers, capital must release, at all costs. When it growls, new markets must be found and exploited or it all crashes—down, down, down upon the heads of the least sheltered.
The more we sacrifice, the larger the demon, the greater the hunger, the harder the crash. When and where? What will emerge? And what will the bankers do then?
I have but one complaint about the book. It is sometimes (infrequently but the infrequent can accumulate over the course of a 500+ page book) written as if the audience surely understands markets and bonds and assets and various exotic instruments, which I do not in great detail. Sometimes as a result, cause and effect become untied from each other. There exists a glossary and primer, but typically they did not contain the terms I was looking for. Your mileage may vary.
They're all interesting and illuminating, but in the end, I'm always left with a question. Wherefore all this? The spies and the diplomats and the generals all skitter about to the dromological demands of power, the politicians and businessmen in close pursuit, but I have always found less than complete satisfaction in explanations rooted in individuals under Arendtian forces or holistic evaluations of power and society.
It was, all along, Nomi Prins who held my answers. She held the missing link behind it all, the source of the messenger particles that move all the other intricate pieces along: it was All the Presidents' Bankers. Here it all comes together: power and class, expedience and sacrifice, motivation and action. This book alone will not paint the whole picture, but without the knowledge herein one lacks the frame. The bankers.
Above all, I'm left with one difficult observation.
Here and now, in deep, especially America-deep where time dilation is reaching some local Lorentzian limit, the bankers are unfortunately not wrong. To cease our sacrifice at the altar of growth, to limit our ability to compete with deregulation abroad, to properly protect our own at home, would break the system. The beast must be fed. When it hungers, capital must release, at all costs. When it growls, new markets must be found and exploited or it all crashes—down, down, down upon the heads of the least sheltered.
The more we sacrifice, the larger the demon, the greater the hunger, the harder the crash. When and where? What will emerge? And what will the bankers do then?
I have but one complaint about the book. It is sometimes (infrequently but the infrequent can accumulate over the course of a 500+ page book) written as if the audience surely understands markets and bonds and assets and various exotic instruments, which I do not in great detail. Sometimes as a result, cause and effect become untied from each other. There exists a glossary and primer, but typically they did not contain the terms I was looking for. Your mileage may vary.
March 23, 2025
Audiobooked, would be a long read otherwise. I've observed this new genre of giant fact dumps (sprinkled with a little commentary) as the modern non-fiction book. I keep seeing this over and over again. Massive fact-dumps (some facts so disparate that the book is rarely cohesive). This is like my 5th non-fiction book in a row of this. Very different from past considerably higher quality non-fiction writing (not copy and paste facts) where the book not only was like a written documentary but turned into movies (see Michael Lewis, or Barbarians at the Gate). I may "write" one myself and just do a fact puke on paper and toss in my 2 cents of commentary as the writing part.
That said, this is a decent book (I may even relisten). The relevant parts is hearing about the bailouts (in the "free-market") and corruption of wall st and politicians flagrantly stealing tax payer money to make whole losers who lost in their own casino. Privatize Gains, Socialize Losses. It's astounding how this happens time and time again, nothing it learned and nothing changes. Eventually it will all collapse but until then expect to see a history repeat of all of this.
Note the book title: "Hidden Alliances that Drive American Power" Prins enlightens the reader with (what should be illegal) backroom deals that steal money from taxpayers. For example: the same year of wall st bailouts Goldman Sachs posted their RECORD YEAR for Salary Bonuses! Can you imagine - the bank was BANKRUPT (but bailed out by the Gov and a scam warren buffet hoax deal) and that bailout money (TAXPAYER money) was handed out to the corrupt losers as "you did so well losing money we will pay you the biggest salary bonus ever!" you can't make this up.
On that note here is my 2 cents. Same thing happens for government scams. Trump and Doge stopping it (at least slowing it down) and libtards are up in arms "we must have scams for gov employees!". Were were they for wall st? Oh that puny occupy wall st. lol the liberal hypocrisy.
That said, this is a decent book (I may even relisten). The relevant parts is hearing about the bailouts (in the "free-market") and corruption of wall st and politicians flagrantly stealing tax payer money to make whole losers who lost in their own casino. Privatize Gains, Socialize Losses. It's astounding how this happens time and time again, nothing it learned and nothing changes. Eventually it will all collapse but until then expect to see a history repeat of all of this.
Note the book title: "Hidden Alliances that Drive American Power" Prins enlightens the reader with (what should be illegal) backroom deals that steal money from taxpayers. For example: the same year of wall st bailouts Goldman Sachs posted their RECORD YEAR for Salary Bonuses! Can you imagine - the bank was BANKRUPT (but bailed out by the Gov and a scam warren buffet hoax deal) and that bailout money (TAXPAYER money) was handed out to the corrupt losers as "you did so well losing money we will pay you the biggest salary bonus ever!" you can't make this up.
On that note here is my 2 cents. Same thing happens for government scams. Trump and Doge stopping it (at least slowing it down) and libtards are up in arms "we must have scams for gov employees!". Were were they for wall st? Oh that puny occupy wall st. lol the liberal hypocrisy.
May 25, 2023
I finished listening to All The President's Bankers by Nomi Prins
I think it's her best book (reading chronologically from earliest release to latest, so this doesn't include the 2 books released after this one) yet! I will say, it's a big book, it gets detailed, it's dense, and thats really nothing new with Nomi Prins. Is it fun to read??? Um...depends on your definition of fun but I will say that I enjoyed it.
What I love in particular is how she goes chronologically, starting with bankers going to Jekyll Island to create the Federal Reserve. She discusses how bankers went from hiding in the shadows to get banker friendly legislation into government. She discusses bankers relationship with the current president of the time. And slowly overtime with money, the media and time the bankers while no longer in the shadows have create enough pull in government to make it nearly impossible to stay at the white house, or be successful without them. It has become an unspoken agreement that Presidents will do what needs to be done to keep them going.
One thing I found particularly interesting is Nomi Prins previous distaste for the Republican party has slowly disseminated into Democratic party after Clinton and Obama also were Banker friendly. It looks like she's seeing, it doesn't matter what party it is, if they are still working with the Bankers, they still suck.
Anyways, it's an incredibly informative book. I'd recommend a read if you want to get good detail on how Bankers started getting into government and how over time they made it their world. Very good read.
I think it's her best book (reading chronologically from earliest release to latest, so this doesn't include the 2 books released after this one) yet! I will say, it's a big book, it gets detailed, it's dense, and thats really nothing new with Nomi Prins. Is it fun to read??? Um...depends on your definition of fun but I will say that I enjoyed it.
What I love in particular is how she goes chronologically, starting with bankers going to Jekyll Island to create the Federal Reserve. She discusses how bankers went from hiding in the shadows to get banker friendly legislation into government. She discusses bankers relationship with the current president of the time. And slowly overtime with money, the media and time the bankers while no longer in the shadows have create enough pull in government to make it nearly impossible to stay at the white house, or be successful without them. It has become an unspoken agreement that Presidents will do what needs to be done to keep them going.
One thing I found particularly interesting is Nomi Prins previous distaste for the Republican party has slowly disseminated into Democratic party after Clinton and Obama also were Banker friendly. It looks like she's seeing, it doesn't matter what party it is, if they are still working with the Bankers, they still suck.
Anyways, it's an incredibly informative book. I'd recommend a read if you want to get good detail on how Bankers started getting into government and how over time they made it their world. Very good read.
March 6, 2019
Whether the economy is good or bad, during both democrat and republican administrations, one thing has remained consistent for over a hundred years in America. The bankers always manage to come out unscathed according to author Nomi Prins in All the Presidents' Bankers: The Hidden Alliances that Drive American Power. Bankers have managed over the years to work with any administration in order to craft legislation that sounds very good about helping regular people at the expense of the evil banking industry but mostly doesn't really impact the banker very much. And she points out that over the last century things have actually gotten worse for consumers, but improved for the financial industry. That's why when people were losing their homes in 2007-2009 with the collapse of the subprime loan market, bankers were hauling in record bonuses as the industry focused on using bailout money to buy out competitors with the risky loans backed by the government meaning taxpayers. This really encourages more of the same behavior on their part because there are few or no consequences to them. An eyeopener for sure, if you are concerned about our economy, you need to read this book!
January 10, 2023
I had a hard time understanding what was going on. This book is a serie of names, dates and events, and to top it off I was just listening to the audiobook, distracted while doing other tasks.
But.
This is still a great book to see the extensive reach of the banking sector in USA's policies and internationally through the IMF. It details the rapports between the different US presidents and bankers, as well as the many instances of corruption, fraud, golden parachutes, mergers, etc. There was extensive covereage of the Glass-Steagall act, which prevents conflating banks for deposits and investments, backs deposits federally, and cap interest rates. The repeal of this act was a very long struggle, but it was brought down in 1999, triggering a lot of risky speculative investments, helping inflate the financial crisis of 2000, 2008, and now. By being backed by the Feds, private banks play with public money for privatized gains, being bailed out when their Ponzi scheme crumble, while others lose their jobs.
But.
This is still a great book to see the extensive reach of the banking sector in USA's policies and internationally through the IMF. It details the rapports between the different US presidents and bankers, as well as the many instances of corruption, fraud, golden parachutes, mergers, etc. There was extensive covereage of the Glass-Steagall act, which prevents conflating banks for deposits and investments, backs deposits federally, and cap interest rates. The repeal of this act was a very long struggle, but it was brought down in 1999, triggering a lot of risky speculative investments, helping inflate the financial crisis of 2000, 2008, and now. By being backed by the Feds, private banks play with public money for privatized gains, being bailed out when their Ponzi scheme crumble, while others lose their jobs.
March 7, 2021
Extremely well researched and well presented. The book shows how the worlds money supply is both rigged and tightly nit to the power structures in the world. How these extremely powerful people have operated mostly behind the scenes, combining their power and even their families by arranged marriages, driven by their own personal interests, mostly how to gain more money, influence, control, and power.
March 30, 2023
Poor book.
At the start of the book, it mentions that this has been based in the documenting effort for another novel. I could not shake off from then onwards the feeling that more than a book I was reading a diary of events. It doesn't have an hypothesis to defend, a general idea to pass to you across the book. Relationships between powerful, rich people and rulers are there since the beginning of times.
I wouldn't read it again.
At the start of the book, it mentions that this has been based in the documenting effort for another novel. I could not shake off from then onwards the feeling that more than a book I was reading a diary of events. It doesn't have an hypothesis to defend, a general idea to pass to you across the book. Relationships between powerful, rich people and rulers are there since the beginning of times.
I wouldn't read it again.
April 4, 2019
This book compressed so much information, and contained so many names, it is only possible to retain a small fraction of it. Each chapter could easily be its own book. Once I finished I realized that deregulation is not the answer and the Federal Reserve is not the answer. The answer lies somewhere in the middle.
July 27, 2019
Astonishing, breathtaking, shocking.
If you are interested in how the big banks have influenced in modern history, commerce, wars, countries relationships, election of global leaders, then you must read this book.
I was about to put 4 stars because it is kind of difficult to read due to the vast of financial and echonomic terms, but I really enjoyed it, 5 stars.
If you are interested in how the big banks have influenced in modern history, commerce, wars, countries relationships, election of global leaders, then you must read this book.
I was about to put 4 stars because it is kind of difficult to read due to the vast of financial and echonomic terms, but I really enjoyed it, 5 stars.
January 12, 2021
Fairly well written and researched book that makes a very compelling argument about the increasing power of US finance over the federal government, including during the Obama administration. The Audible version however, I would not recommend because the narrator has an odd and distracting pronunciation of words like debacle. She also did not know how to pronounce key financial terms like REITs.
May 20, 2021
Interesting topic, with a lot of detail. Maybe a bit too much detail, as it was a little dry (which I should have guessed based on the title). I definitely learned a lot, plus, it was great to read when I was having trouble sleeping. It took much longer to finish than normal for me, but, it was worth it for the wealth of information it contained.
October 31, 2018
Eye opening..... this is just one of the many reasons I became Independent
Money corrupts even at the local level bow money is pouring in from other states change minds and direction of what may have started out as noble cause Republicans and Democrats are one in the same
Money corrupts even at the local level bow money is pouring in from other states change minds and direction of what may have started out as noble cause Republicans and Democrats are one in the same
April 6, 2020
She's a bit of a leftist conspiracy theorist, but I wanted a book that covered banking's influence in the political sector with broad and entertaining strokes. She delivered it and I look forward to reading more of her books.
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