Collusion: How Central Bankers Rigged the World

by Nomi Prins

In this searing exposéformer Wall Street insider Nomi Prins shows how the 2007-2008 financial crisis turbo-boosted the influence of central bankers and triggered a massive shift in the world order.

Central banks and international institutions like the IMF have overstepped their traditional mandates by directing the flow of epic sums of fabricated money without any checks or balances. Meanwhile, the open door between private and central banking has ensured endless opportunities for market manipulation and asset bubbles -- with government support.

Through on-the-ground reporting, Prins reveals how five regions and their central banks reshaped economics and geopolitics. She discloses how Mexico navigated its relationship with the US while striving for independence and how Brazil led the BRICS countries to challenge the US dollar's hegemony. She explains how China's retaliation against the Fed's supremacy is aiding its ongoing ascent as a global superpower and how Japan is negotiating the power shift from the West to the East. And she illustrates how the European response to the financial crisis fueled instability that manifests itself in everything from rising populism to the shocking Brexit vote.

Packed with tantalizing details about the elite players orchestrating the world economy -- from Janet Yellen and Mario Draghi to Ben Bernanke and Christine Lagarde -- Collusion takes the reader inside the most discreet conversations at exclusive retreats like Jackson Hole and Davos. A work of meticulous reporting and bracing analysis, Collusion will change the way we understand the new world of international finance.

Genres: Economics, Finance, Nonfiction, History, Politics, Business, Money

384 pages, Hardcover

First published May 1, 2018

About the author

Nomi 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.

Reviews

[Don Gerstein · Rating 4 out of 5]

During the Introduction and the opening chapters (on Mexico and Brazil), I was caught up in the incredible amount of knowledge that juggernauted its way through the pages. After an overview of what has happened in the world due to the central banks, author Nomi Prins than backtracked and provided a fascinating breakdown for various countries. Each chapter takes you in a different direction, but you begin to see how everything ties together and, of course, how one central bank’s actions affect the rest of the world.

I was not happy, however, when I reached the chapter on China. The book took on a different tone, right down to the chapter headings. Rather than comments on the book’s information, Ms. Prins chose to celebrate her China chapter using the Chinese Zodiac (Year of the Rabbit, Year of the Dragon, etc.) rather than comment on China’s actions. At times, it almost seemed as if China could do no wrong.

The word “collusion” is used to excess in this book. During a YouTube video of Ms. Prins, she explained that while optimistic people might use collaboration (working together to create something), she preferred collusion (secret or illegal cooperation or conspiracy, especially in order to cheat or deceive others). It is difficult to believe that countries from around the world got together and deliberately devised a system while conspiring to deceive and cheat others, which is the message the book conveys. It is easier to believe that a system that was believed to be helpful was initiated, and once in place, it was allowed to continue (doing the same things over and over, expecting different results seems to apply here). Taking the factual aspects of the book, this chain of events can be supported.

While the overuse of the word collusion distracts, there is no doubt that the information provided is impressive. Featuring individual central banks in chapter allows readers to easily grasp the history and gain understanding (what was done, why it was done and at whose behest). My feelings were that this information is damning enough without using the accusation of collusion like a virtual club. The velvet glove approach to China didn’t gel with the rest of the book. As demonstrated in the other chapters, central bankers are going to do what they feel is best for their countries and the world as they believe it should evolve to become, no matter which central bank each represents. When you walk through mud, you’re bound to dirty your shoes. No country is immune.

This book provides an excellent accounting of what happened, allowing a deep introspection from different angles. Reasonings and subsequent decisions that may have appeared murky when the events were happening become clear. Ms. Prins backs up her writing with an extensive listing of footnotes, taking up approximately a third of the book. It would be difficult to pass by a book as heavily researched and detailed as this one. Four stars.

My thanks to NetGalley and Perseus Books, Public Affairs for an advance reading copy of this book.

[Mike · Rating 2 out of 5]

I would guess a good 98% of this book is just regurgitating news which has been available to all over the past 15-20 years without much comment on the part of the author. This makes the read extremely dry if not a tad wonky. In fact, it is hard to stop from glazing over with the neverending numbers and her love of abbreviations and acronyms. Then, in her conclusion (only a few pages) she comes alive and makes some great points. If only she had commented, drawn parallels, given opinions in the rest of the book, this could have been an excellent effort.

[Glen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I won this book in a goodreads drawing.

A history of how the big banks caused the financial meltdown of 2008. I don't completely agree with all the author's conclusions, but I felt better informed after I read this.

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

Boy-howdy dense! A treasure of information, but not a lot in the way of a narrative putting it all together for the poor, ignorant reader. I'm generally a reader willing to do the work, and I have a business degree for whatever that's worth, but there so many interest rates, financial terms and acronyms.

I learned the names of the 21st-century heads of various central banks and that most of them say one thing and do another, and that their collective management is not only corrupt (which I knew it was) but also inept (which isn't all that surprising). The introductions and conclusions were by far my favourite parts of the book.

I know Chris Hedges, the brilliant journalist, has read and cited this book. Perhaps they should co-write something. I think Prins has a lot to offer in terms of (much-needed) insight on the financial system but needs someone to help her bridge the knowledge gap to the rest of us dum-dums.

[Evan · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this book after hearing Nomi Prins interviewed by Erik Townsend on the Macrovoices podcast. I thought the interview was fascinating enough that I should read her book. After reading the book, I thought of something I heard said from Patrick O'Shaughnessy (Invest Like the Best podcast) - it is rare that a book is worth reading after hearing the author interviewed. That is how I feel. I also agree with the 5 other reviews currently on Goodreads. First, the first sections on Brazil and Mexico were much more interesting because I had not heard much of it during the past decade. Second, the book was very dry and quite hard to read without getting bored.

My main criticism of this book is how she quotes Chinese politicians repeatedly, and accepts everything they say without skepticism. For example, when Secretary of the Treasury Lew says China needs to let the Yuan float, she says he is promoting collusion and quotes a Chinese banker as saying the China is letting market forces determine the Yuan's value as proof that the US is involved in collusion. I have no doubt that US politicians lie, but I also have no doubt that Chinese officials lie.

My next criticism is I don't understand why coordinated actions by government bankers from different nations constitutes collusion.

I did appreciate being made aware of a comment from IMF chief Christine Lagarde: “Which might very well mean, that if we have this conversation in 10 years’ time...we might not be sitting in Washington, D.C. We’ll do it in our Beijing head office,” Lagarde said. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-im...

Anyway, I would recommend the 40 minute Macrovoices podcast interview instead of the 17 hour audiobook. ;)

[John Hively · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was not an interesting book. Basically, the story is told like this: So and so did this, the Fed did that, the central bank of Bolivia did this because or that, and the Fed "conjured money" to the tune of $4.5 trillion and called it quantitative easing. Incredibly boring. It is just a list of stuff, not really a decent read at all. The story is important. The rich were saved via "conjured money" from the Fed, and this policy had repercussions across the Earth, and other central bankers aside from Japan, created money out of thin air. So and so did this and so and so did that, and the bankers created more money, etc...

One of the worst written books of all time.

[Eddie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent book written by a real expert with banking experience. Nomi often does interviews (see on youtube) and she is great how she calls out the lies, hypocrisy, double dealing, deception, and self-serving interest of Central Banks and the Banksters. I read some negative reviews and those people are simpletons who don't understand what Central Banks do (nothing but a scam for politicians and member banks to enrich themselves). They are the biggest graft/grift to the world. They win: we lose.

No point in repeating the salient points bc the entire book is salient. The conclusion is the best part of the book. Central Banks should NOT exist bc they are the antithesis of free markets.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nomi Prins does a deep dive into the activities of central banks from the 2008 crisis through 2017. It's a difficult (for me!) but very insightful look at how the central bankers went wild with conjuring money and how so little of it caused any real economic growth. It's incredibly well-sourced and detailed. It covers the Bank of Japan, the People's Bank of China, Bank of Brazil, and the European Central Bank. It ends with a brief conclusion about what could be done.

I have three main criticisms of the book. First, it's extremely jargon-heavy and doesn't have nearly enough explanation of the complex financial maneuvers discussed in the book. Second, it feels like it oscillates between a very detailed chronology of the market and bank's reactions to the financial crisis to a deeper explanation of big picture/what it means. Finally, it needed a little more editing. There are a few mispellings (backer instead of baker) and I think some inversions (lower interest rates when she meant higher interest rates).

Overall, a very detailed review of the non-US central banks' role in the aftermath of the financial crisis.

[John Mihelic · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like Ms. prins' other works, and this is a continuation of the same. She is wary of the bankers at the center of our economies, and this is a good history that shows where things have gone wrong recently (and kudos to her for looking at other central banks than just the Fed. I learned a lot about the Mexican Central Bank in this book). For me the only problem is that she derides the actions of the global central banks in two terms. The first is collusion, where different banks gave the others cover. To me this is not horrible, as the other option is working in zero sum games (i.e., trade wars or one-sided currency devaluation). The other is that she speaks against "conjuring" in that banks created assets in the form of central bank money. She does mention that we needn't go back to the gold standard, but to me as a reader, if there is such harsh criticism, there should be an alternate on offer. AAs bad as the central banks are, and how horrible it was that monetary policy was effected to bail out the banks and not you and me, normal people, Prins doesn't flesh out the other side in this book.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great author .. Big girl Nearly VP level bear Sterns I believe of finance / trading banking . Rips for 4th time the Central banks setting up the world to explode via endless debt that can collapse if they don't feed the monster with TAXPAYER aka GOV free money to banking system. The ECB aka central bank of Europe is already collaping under their constant FEEDING THE MONSTER. WE IN USA NEED TO TREAT TRADE, LABOR (great paying jobs) AND CURRENCY AS WAR. Central banks will destroy your grand childrens world.. And eventually WORLD WAR 3 on the back end of EVIL SOCIALIST GOV stealing anything not nailed down.. BIG GOV IS WASTEFUL .. MONEY INTO BANKING SYSTEM IS SIMPLY INVESTED FOR THEIR BENIFIT and No next trillion USD will make more strong companies that emply 5 million with great jobs.. IT"S ALL a ponsy scheme..

[Vincenzo Rascionato · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a really in depth summary of the 2008 crisis aftermath and how it was solved with endless QE. It was an interesting look at how QE doesn't really help the economy, and also how it will be difficult if not impossible to unwind without major impact.

To me it was a bit too detailed, and it's organized by country (Mexico, Brazil, etc) so it goes thru the same time period with each chapter from each country's perspective. That made it very difficult to follow. Also, there was no real solutions or insight on how to repair it, other than literally 2 paragraphs at the very end.

I felt reading the intro and the final chapter gives you 90% of what the book is trying to cover.

[Mike Henricks · Rating 4 out of 5]

Came back to edit my review after reading for a second time, I’ll bring it up to 4 stars. The author gives a fantastic history lesson on the central banking systems. Upon first read I thought it was only a history lesson. When reading for the second time I clued in that this is hardly a history lesson, and this is very relevant today. The author bashes politicians and people of power in every dynamic. But upon second reading I realized they weren’t bashing these people, they were holding them accountable for their actions.

[Mel · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a dense read and best done ion small chucks or one chapter per sitting/day. What caused the financial crisis in 2007-8? The direct cause in the United States. Big banks, the stock markets, and elites created the policies and instruments that failed. Collusion by central banks to save big banks and investors failed banks failed to solve the problem. This book explains why. It also makes the case why it can happen again. Worthy of a read and discussion. Circle

[Alexander · Rating 3 out of 5]

Immense. Thorough. Reads like a dry reference.

[Yalman Onaran · Rating 3 out of 5]

Raises some interest points as always and correctly identifies the addiction to easy money in the developed markets. A bit too nice on China and other emerging markets perhaps.

[Ugh · Rating 2 out of 5]

Oh so dry. It's largely a history - essentially, a list - of central bank rate changes. I thought it might be interesting to read in our current time of high inflation resulting in rate increases, but mostly it's tremendously dull.

Obviously, given the name, Prins tries to assert that there was wrongdoing when many central banks cut rates to zero or below during the financial crisis, but there's certainly nothing juicy in the telling, and if what central banks did really was wrong, the telling is unconvincing.

With the benefit of hindsight that really was already available by the time this book was published, we know that Greece didn't exit the eurozone, youth unemployment in Europe is falling again, and we would probably have had steady growth in recent years if not for Covid-19 and now the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

The book is an essay - delivered in the conclusion - with a bone dry history attached as evidence, albeit dull evidence. Prins asserts that central banks were wrong to pump out so much quantitative easing and that they should have invested in real infrastructure projects rather than merely buying bonds and propping up private banks. Maybe so. But China invested in real infrastructure, and it's now filled with empty, crumbling apartment buildings and debt-burdened, collapsing construction companies.

She warns that if interest rates were to rise, national interest burdens would be crippling and banks would be in danger of failing. Well, the former may be true but so far it seems that banks are benefitting from the bigger spread between their lending rates and the interest they're paying on customer deposits. They're well capitalised and nobody seems to think they're a threat to the global economy, as they seem to have been in the financial crisis.

Sadly, the parts of the book that read as argument rather than a list of rate changes come across as biased rather than authoritative. Not recommended.

[Writemoves · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the biggest current debates concerns the merits of capitalism versus socialism. In the United States, socialism is a dirty word, particularly in the political realm. Collusion is a very well researched book About the activities of the central banks in various countries like Mexico,Japan, Brazil and China, as well as Europe. The United States took the lead of pumping money into private banks through an unconventional monetary policy process called quantitative easing. QE is an overtly complex term that entails a central bank manufacturing electronic money and then injecting get into banks and financial markets in return for purchasing bonds for securities or stocks.

In the US, the interest rates were lowered to zero and this became "manna," as the author describes it for stock and real estate markets. This had a ripple effect obviously within the United States but also throughout the world. This was a boon for the rich and for investors.

Banks did not lend money to Main Street or to homeowners who desperately needed funds to stay afloat. Banks hoarded the money as they were under no obligation by the Fed to loosen credit strings. While thousands of homeowners lost their houses, CEOs of major banks continued to collect their salaries and bonuses and the stock market was propped up. If your money in a bank is earning no interest, where are you forced to go.

This book is an excellent eye opener for those waving the capitalist banner. Capitalism has been described as socialism for the rich and details of this book will support it.

As an aside, this is not an easy book to read. There is a lot of detail in this book and some knowledge of economics will provide perspective for the reader.

[Adrian Mora · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.1

COLLUSION by Nomi Prins is really good...I think??

It's obvious Nomi's detailed account of a long career in covering the global movement of value across Central Banks is impressive AF! COLLUSION chronicles the ascent and interaction of the world's elite central bankers who accumulated unprecedented power and influence over the world economy following the financial crisis of 2007-2008.

She reveals the collusion with other central banks to decrease the cost of money. Yikes! What could go wrong with all that centralized power to make decisions? Probably everything! Well if not everything but inflations is certainly an issue.

I think we all can see this money game is a complete farce and they are trying hard to misdirect, shield and protect the big banks.

I enjoyed the information Nomi shares but the reason I'm not a huge fan of the book and why I'm not sure if I like it is because of the repetitive nature of describing who, when, and where. I swear if you remove the name, locations, titles and Group name (IE world bank, IMF) the book would be 100 pages shorter.

[Sometime Reader · Rating 2 out of 5]

I decided to put this book away, since as I was reading it, it didn't really seem like I was retaining information. I was originally excited about the format, since she includes a list of people at the beginning, and even organizes the chapters by country, I thought this book would be the easiest to follow yet. I got through about 2 chapters and in the third chapter I reflected if I was really understanding anything I was reading.

Don't get me wrong, I never fully grasped any of Nomi's previous books, maybe except "Jacked", but normally I could get a general idea of what is happening and understand the gravity of it. However, in this case, I think the book has more of "so and so from this entity, had this opinion and at the time the interest rates were XX and then several months later, it changed to xx% after such and such happened". I wasn't getting a sense of bigger picture, despite the book literally covering different parts of the world. So idk, I just didn't want to continue reading a book that I didn't really feel I was learning from.

[Dawn Bates · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bloody brilliant!

The way in which Nomi has gifted those of us not in the financial world an insight into the corruption- without all the complicated jargon - is just what is needed...

Well for those of us who are enough about being properly informed rather than Facebook informed.

Having travelled extensively, and spent the last two decades researching human rights violations around the world, this book brings together some of the vital missing pieces needed to get a fuller picture of what's truly going on.

How those running the global economies see this as a game for enlarging their egos (and penises) is nothing short of shocking, and yet not shocking at all.

Nomi's style of writing is easy to follow, and I love the way in which she has broken down the corruption by country.

What was interesting though was the lack of content from the Arab world. Would be great to see this region explored further in a follow up book.

Great book Nomi! Thanks for writing it.

[Juan Rivera · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book talks about monetary policy from the 2008 crisis to early 2017, when Trump became president of the United States.

If you are interested in the topic, the book, Nomi Prins tells stories as someone who was on the inside, living how the banks agreed to get out of the crisis.

The problem, as she mentions, is that it is no longer a real world, but rather a world manipulated by bankers, which can fall at any moment without anyone being able to stop that fall.

Nomi talks about what happened in Mexico in those years, she also talks about Brazil, China, Japan and the European Union. The most interesting chapter for me was the one in Mexico, because I suffered the consequences but without being totally aware of what was happening.

China perhaps handled that crisis quite well, always for its interests.

But the book leaves you with the taste in your mouth that everything is hanging on pins and can fall at any moment.

Horror.

[Doug Poore · Rating 5 out of 5]

pretty great crash course on macroeconomics. it follows the 2008 financial crisis from wall street (who started it with their rapacious sociopathy) then winding thru the central banks of the world.

it illustrates the hierarchy of the neoliberal global financial system & brings into focus what the neoliberal architects called the double government: one for each country's cultural laws & one that rules over all their combined economics.

the author is an industry insider who knows the banks' words & deeds do not match up, the motto: managed perception is more important than reality.

nothing they did in the years after the crash was to the benefit of the real economy: main street. but it did give rise to brexit & the ascendant right wing movements & neofeudalism we're seeing everywhere. & it is still ongoing.

[Debra Daniels-Zeller · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow. This book was a slow read but well-worth slogging through details. The title says it all and the narrative takes the reader around the world following the big economic collapse over a decade ago. After the economic collapse, central banks created $21 trillion of money to stave off a global depression. But the money never trickled down to actually help anyone. This is what crony capitalism looks like and the wreckage it leaves behind. First stop is Mexico, followed by Brazil, China, Japan and two chapters on Europe. This is a book to leave readers with nightmares of a house of cards built on fabricated money. Well documented with heaps of praise for the work Nomi Prins has done documenting this tragedy. This is one of those books that deserves a second read.

[Zhi Yi · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an amazing book by Nomi Prins. The central bankers are not elected by people through democratic processes and yet they possess so much power that they can topple the economy. In fact, the economy is like their playing field that they keep playing the "QE" game, but too bad it's always the lower and middle income people who pay for the price of their mistakes. How unfair! If more people read this, we would understand the importance of financial education, and never let your destiny dictated by the so called people who are supposed to look after you. This book once again shows that why Rich Dad always said "savers are losers".
I look forward to reading more books from her.

[?0?0?0 · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was almost a 5/5 book.

Nomi Prins's, "Collusion", is a work to be lauded: it charts the history of central, private, regulatory systems, and governments collusion throughout the years that keeps creating bubbles and watching them pop and millions die and starve as a result whilst they bicker over the amount of pepper on their steaks in a closed-door meeting on how next to fuck everyone that's not them over. And they always win. And get away with it. It's time these unelected frauds are sent to Rikers.

[Jewel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellently written book on a complicated topic. Author made it entertaining to read. I admit that there were chunks of it that went over my head, but I got the gist of it and think I will get more out of it from my second read through. But that's only because I am a layperson in this area, so no fault of the author's. Eerie similarities between past event and what is going on right at this time. Thanks, Nomi, for doing your best to bring the truth to light for people like me.

[Mira · Rating 1 out of 5]

I can see a lot of research was done on this topic. I appreciate all the hard work.

However, it is very hard to read this book. I didn't get any useful information or picture of what really happened. The story in not in chronological manner. She's jumping a lot and it's hard to follow.
From 60+ books I've read I didn't finish 2. This is one of them.

[K. Kinambuga · Rating 4 out of 5]

Before reading this book, you may need to understand plenty of economic terms and acronyms then be prepared to go undercover to see how they are all meant to screw us. Nomi Prins shares urgent stacks of information through each chapter with unforgiving detail. You might get lost but if you take time to find yourself, you will discover a true gem. It's a stimulating read under good lighting.

[Grant · Rating 3 out of 5]

Prins whilst getting the overall picture correct fails to provide real analysis and has moments of reductionist WSJ type reporting that fails to explain in nuance when needed. It's more of a retelling of what international government financial institutions and their heads did, and less explaining or analysis of the rigging involved and the effects loose monetary policy has had.

[Tom Withers · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book sucked, unfortunately. It was an interesting premise, but delivered in a mind-alteringly boring way. A rare DNF for me.

Maybe it just caught me in the wrong frame of mind. I gave it a solid couple of hours, but in the end I couldn't force myself to press play again and finish the audiobook.