All the Presidents' Bankers: The Hidden Alliances that Drive American Power Hardcover – April 8, 2014

Nomi Prin's new book demonstrates that a historical examination of the U.S banking industry's influence and control of U.S. politics and economic development is neither dry nor dull. It is riveting! In masterful style she starts early in the 20th century to show how powerful bankers have managed the country and political leaders for a very long time. While history tends to show that presidents have been the prime figures shaping history, this book argues that banking figures who ran the forerunners of today's powerful banks were equally powerful.Even more fascinating, Prins shows how U.S. bankers extended U.S. power and domination into Europe, Latin America, and other third world countries. World War II enabled the U.S. to be the top of the industrial world. But most of us don't think about the equally critical financial world. This book examines that area closely: the successful effort to establish the supremacy of the U.S. dollar, the formation of the IMF and the World Bank, and the U.S.'s success in pushing aside Great Britain, the world's former superpower.Prins carefully analyzes the relationship of the IMF and the World Bank with powerful U.S. banks. For example, she shows that the IMF provides short-term financing to help stabilize currencies in developing countries. This provides enough stability to enable U.S. bank to provide more expensive, and much more profitable, debt to those countries. The World Bank, on the other hand, is transformed into a "securities vending machine for private banks." Bankers can then decide which bonds to sell which gives them incredible control over where the World Bank provides lending.This book also provides an illuminating examination of the banking industry's long-term effort to get rid of Glass-Steagall regulations that were put in place during the Great Depression. The goal of these regulations had been to prevent the highly speculative and reckless lending and security issuance behavior that characterized the period before the 1929 crash. Prins examines how banks during the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s gradually chipped away at the various banking regulations. It culminates in the 1999 Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act that once again allows investment firms to combine with commercial banks. That put in place the conditions that allowed the banking industry to recklessly head toward the financial meltdown of 2007-8."All the Presidents' Bankers" takes its place among other superb books that examine the real drivers of U.S. economic power like Naomi Klein's "The Shock Doctrine". Prins, like all great non-fiction writers, proves that discovering how economic and political systems really run is far more fascinating that the nearest best-selling spy thriller.

I got this book in hardcover on Friday. I reserve the extra expense of hardbound for those I think likely to be special. I am not disappointed one whit. I'll be getting the Kindle edition as well (I hate to mark up my really prized hardcovers). Had I not been having to finish my tax return, I'd have finished it by now.It is riveting. The writing style is elegant, the heavily documented recounting of the rise of the financial sector barons beginning with the late 1800's is simply compelling. The recounted "panic of 1907" is eerily similar to the mess that would ensue a century later.We in effect have come to have a hereditary / intermarriage-of-the-clans lineage aristocracy quietly operating the levers of power, globally. Presidents and legislatures come and go, but this small group of people at the top of the heap have inordinate long-term power with no effective accountability. That they operate principally with the funds of ordinary bank depositors rather than their own risk capital is all the more galling owing to the fact that the vast majority of the public have no idea as to how they're getting played. "Privatization of profits, socialization of losses" may have become a cliche phrase, but it's true, and it jumps right off these pages.I've been closely following FIRE sector machinations my entire adult life, beginning with the 60's Equity Funding Life scam. My most recent readings include "Capital in the 21st century," "The Seven Sins of Wall Street," "FlashBoys," and now THIS.We never seem to learn.I enjoyed "Flash Boys" (I've read all of Lewis' books), but it's unfortunate that Michael Lewis has managed to suck all of the oxygen out of the media air right when Nomi's book was released, because her book is way more important for gaining a broad and deep understanding of how the FIRE sector evolved, an understanding that is critical if we are to have any hope of pushing for badly needed, beneficent reforms. I don't think it's an overstatement to assert that a crony capitalist iron-fisted neo-feudalism draws nigh.Kudos, Ms. Prins. I hope your book sells and sells and sells, and gets the major publishing awards it deserves.__UPDATE April 23rd.I just finished this book. Had to take it slow, pretty much one chapter at a time to fully digest all of the history. Very little polemic opining, relatively speaking. That's a nice thing. Ms. Prins certainly has her opinions as to what's ethical or not, but she lets the history speak for itselfWere I on an ECON faculty somewhere, this book would be a core required text for "Modern History of U.S. Finance."So, for more than a century, national politicians have essentially been highly useful "Bright, Shiny Things," distracting dupes in the service of the quiet exercise of unaccountable global power and ever-increasing acquisition of obscene wealth by a small handful of men. Men.The broad public has zero clue as to the extent of their ongoing fleecing, how bad they're getting played. These guys seem to exude dismissive contempt for "the little people," which, to them, consists of at least "the 99%" (a fair number of whom likely count themselves as "financial sophisticates," while they too have been getting played right along with Joe lunchbucket).Wish I could be more optimistic about the prospect for just, sustainable reform. If I didn't have kids and a grandson, it'd be easier to just stop giving a flip.But, then, that wouldn't be fair to those with kids and grandkids.Beautiful book. 5 stars+ Get it and read it closely.

VERY GOOD BOOK ABOUT MONEY AND BANKS

Great read, terrific and terrifying knowledge/cases revisited in the book, impresive research work. Kind of difficult to follow up if you don't have previous knowledge of finance and economics thogh.

For those who still have doubts about the highjack of our livelihood on this planet, this book is the eye opener that you need!

This is the best account of the causes and guilty parties in the 2008 financial scandal. Unfortunately, 8 years later, things are probably worse!!"It Takes a Pillage" takes a lot of guts and courage from Nomi Prins. I admire her tenacity.

This book is well worth reading. It details the relationships between non democratic financial institutions and supposedly democratic political institutions.The corrupt and near incestuous relationship between finance and politics obviously compromises and undermines the integrity of the democratic process.An assist is to read this book in conjunction with Oliver Reeds "Untold History of the United States.