13 Bankers

Reading one of the wave of post-financial crisis books in 2106? Feels so 2010? This was one of the wave of audiobooks I downloaded with my Audible subscription back then, then forgot about until recently. But I'm glad I went back to it.

This book is a great dive into our long, complex political relationship with the financial industry, from Jefferson and Hamilton through the aftermath of the financial crisis in 2008. Johnson and Kwak analyze the history of financial crises, bank regulation and deregulation leading up to the 2008 financial crisis, and how we have mostly failed to make the structural changes necessary to prevent another crisis like this in the future. Along the way they point out how differently we handled our own financial crisis than the reforms western countries have forced on other emerging market countries in similar situations. This book is thought-provoking and depressing. Although our economy feels more secure than it did six years ago - and books like this may be less in vogue - 13 Bankers is a good reminder that if we want to prevent another crisis we need to enact real political change.

Important albeit depressing book to read, especially for more context if you read “The Big Short.” The most important chapter is the last one where they actually provide an answer to the question about “How big should we let banks become.” Reading in 2023 right after the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, I kept wanting to read an update — this was written in 2009 and it seems like the system has just shrugged it off and ignored every possible lesson from 2007-2009 collapse. One thing the book does a good job of is making clear that America’s banks are a huge part of what’s hurting America and the global future, because the banks have essentially become casino gamblers whose only function is to play games where the reward is a greater hoard of wealth rather than directing capital to solve any actual real-world problems.