A Colossal Failure of Common Sense: The Inside Story of the Collapse of Lehman Brothers

One of the biggest questions of the financial crisis has not been answered until now. What happened at Lehman Brothers and why was it allowed to fail, with aftershocks that rocked the global economy? In this news-making, often astonishing book, a former Lehman Brothers Vice President gives us the straight answers?right from the belly of the beast.

In A Colossal Failure of Common Sense, Larry McDonald, a Wall Street insider, reveals the culture and unspoken rules of the game like no book has ever done. The book is couched in the very human story of Larry McDonald?s Horatio Alger-like rise from a Massachusetts ?gateway to nowhere? housing project to the New York headquarters of Lehman Brothers, home of one of the world?s toughest trading floors.

We get a close-up view of the participants in the Lehman collapse, especially those who saw it coming with a helpless, angry certainty. We meet the Brahmins at the top, whose reckless, pedal-to-the-floor addiction to growth finally demolished the nation?s oldest investment bank. The Wall Street we encounter here is a ruthless place, where brilliance, arrogance, ambition, greed, capacity for relentless toil, and other human traits combine in a potent mix that sometimes fuels prosperity but occasionally destroys it.

The full significance of the dissolution of Lehman Brothers remains to be measured. But this much is certain: it was a devastating blow to America?s?and the world?s?financial system. And it need not have happened. This is the story of why it did.

Price Range:$12.34 to $19.44 | 6 stores
Product Rating:

5 Reviews
Info:
Set Price Alert Save to Wish List
Tags:
Amazon, Buy.com, HotBookSale.com, Barnes and Noble, Barnes & Noble, DeepDiscount.com

ComparePrices

title,desc	merchant	price	seeit
Smarter Choice Hardcover, A Colossal Failure of... One of the biggest questions of the financial crisis has not been answered until now. What happened at Lehman...	23,982 reviews *smarter certified	$16.21	See it
A Colossal Failure of Common Sense:... Patrick Robinson, Lawrence G. Mcdonald / 2009 / 351 pages	DeepDiscount.com 4,164 reviews *smarter certified	$18.90 Free Shipping Coupon 1 coupon available Code:No Code Required Detail: Free Standard shipping on any order at DeepDiscount. Expires:Aug-31-2010 Restriction:Unknow	See it
A Colossal Failure of Common Sense:...	24 reviews	$12.34 Free Shipping	See it
A Colossal Failure of Common Sense:... General Business & Economics - One of the biggest questions of the financial crisis has not been answered until now....	Barnes & Noble	$27 $19.44 Coupon 2 coupons available Code:No Code Required Detail: Free Shipping on orders of $25 at Barnes & Noble Expires:Jun-30-2010 Restriction:see site for more details Code:J7M3C9V Detail: 20% off single item when you use Master card at Barnes & Noble Expires:Dec-31-2009 Restriction:Unknow	See it
A Colossal Failure of Common Sense:... Pages: 368, Hardcover, Crown Business	Amazon 11,406 reviews	$17.82 Coupon 1 coupon available Code:No Code Required Detail: FREE Shipping on orders over $25 at Amazon. Expires:Dec-31-2010 Restriction:Some restrictions apply. See site for details.	See it
Hardcover, A Colossal Failure of... General Business & Economics - One of the biggest questions of the financial crisis has not been answered until now....	Barnes and Noble 20 reviews	$19.44	See it

*Shipping costs are based on an estimate of the lowest shipping rate available within the contiguous US, excluding Alaska and Hawaii. Only merchants with this product in stock are listed (Merchants with this product back ordered have been removed from this list).

Do you see a pricing error? Please let us know by filling out a simple form: Click here

MoreStores

Write a review

ProductReviews67/100 (5 Reviews)

Recent Reviews

1/5: From: Amazon; Posted: Aug-11-2009; Self serving badly written rubbish; As a former Lehman Managing Director who worked with many of the key characters in this book, Lawrence McDonald excepted, I would strongly recommend potential readers to avoid this poorly written, turgid, self-serving drivel. The...; read full review | report as inappropriate

5/5: From: Amazon; Posted: Aug-11-2009; relevant read; A smooth, captivating read. Easy to understand and in context. I read this book thru like a thriller. Recommend to all.; read full review | report as inappropriate

2/5: From: Amazon; Posted: Aug-11-2009; It's been less than a year since Lehman collapsed...so...; ...it's impossible to think you could get a decent book that chronicles Lehman's demise with any amount of accuracy or objectivity. This book is all emotion, and self promotion. But I did love the summer before Lehman collapsed... much...; read full review | report as inappropriate

4/5: From: Amazon; Posted: Aug-10-2009; As told from the trenche; I read the good and the bad reviews of this book and found both, in my option, to be true. McDonald speaks of his journey to the trading floor at Lehman and his experiences there. He grants us one man's perspective of those tulmultuous...; read full review | report as inappropriate

Selected Reviews

5/5: From: Amazon; Posted: Aug-11-2009; relevant read; A smooth, captivating read. Easy to understand and in context. I read this book thru like a thriller. Recommend to all.; read full review | report as inappropriate

1/5: From: Amazon; Posted: Aug-11-2009; Self serving badly written rubbish; As a former Lehman Managing Director who worked with many of the key characters in this book, Lawrence McDonald excepted, I would strongly recommend potential readers to avoid this poorly written, turgid, self-serving drivel. The...; read full review | report as inappropriate