Author:William D. Cohan
When, in late 2008, the dust finally started to settle on one of the worst financial crises in history, only one Wall Street institution still stood virtually unassailed - Goldman Sachs. Why did Goldman survive, and even flourish, when so many of its peers were collapsing around them? Were the Goldman professionals simply the 'smartest guys in the room', the elite of the elite? Or was there more at work than simply the magic of 'The Goldman Way'?
In Money and Power William D Cohan peers behind the curtain to give us the inside story of why Goldman is so profitable, and so powerful. His behind-the-scenes account shows how, buttressed by the most aggressive and sophisticated PR machine in the financial industry, Goldman Sachs has continually projected an image of being superior to its competitors - smarter, more collegial, more ethical, more client-focused. But Cohan also reveals another way of viewing Goldman - as a secretive money-making machine that has walked an uneasy line between conflict-of-interest and legitimate deal-making for decades; a firm that has assiduously cultivated power and exerted its influence over government (to the extent that Sidney Weinberg, who ran the firm for nearly forty years, advised presidents from Roosevelt to Kennedy and was nicknamed 'The Politician'); a company kept in line by former CIA operatives and private investigators; a workplace rife with brutal power struggles.
William Cohan is the first author to chronicle and to interview the leaders of Goldman Sachs since the 2008 crash, and has gained unprecedented access to the firm's inner circle. Every living former chief executive of Goldman Sachs has spoken to him, as well as its current chairman and CEO, Lloyd Blankfein. Money and Power is the most penetrating study yet of these larger-than-life characters and their secretive world: the definitive account of an institution whose public claims of virtue look very much like ruthlessness when exposed to the light of day.
Exhaustive, revelatory...engrossing...Cohan...is...a sympathetic listener, at his best once he has found a few people on the inside to pump for gossip....Such insights make Money and Power the most penetrating of the three major attempts to tell the Goldman story....Cohan revels in a good bust-up.
—— John Gapper , Financial TimesCohan offers the most human portrayal of the firm yet...Seems destined to be a runaway bestseller. Such is the wonder of Goldman Sachs.
—— Ian McGugan , Bloomberg Businessweek[An] imposing history...Cohan evinces an eye for telling images and an ear for deadpan quotations...brings the bank's sometimes "schizophrenic" behavior to vivid life.
—— James Pressley , Bloomberg News[Cohan's] technique combines mastery of financial detail with extensive use of quotes to catch the authentic Wall Street voice... Cohan has done a comprehensive and highly professional job
—— Martin Vander Weyer , Literary ReviewA rollercoaster account of how Goldman Sachs does business, and the best analysis yet of its increasingly tangled web of conflicts, by a master-storyteller
—— The Economist Books of the Year 2011Ambitious ... a pleasure to read ... thought-provoking
—— New ScientistA sweeping yet personal challenge to assumptions Western society makes about the relationships between individuals and the finite hours in a given day
—— Time MagazineOdell argues convincingly that our daily experience is dominated by the corporate clock that so many of us contort ourselves to fit inside
—— Irish IndependentThe best beach read of the year ... Read it, and then think deeply about how you are reading your own time
—— The Media LeaderOdell's latest book, Saving Time, is great at analysing where a lot of our notions about how to use our time came from (hint: capitalism).
—— RTE IrelandOne of President Barack Obama's 'Favourite books of 2019'
—— President Barack Obama on How To Do Nothing[a] fascinating and timely history
—— Ian Pindar , GuardianIncredibly vivid
—— Press AssociationI've read lots of books about economics this last year. This is one of the very best... Superb
—— StandardA fluent and indirect paean to Keynesian economics... this resonates with the contemporary turmoil in global financial markets
—— Financial TimesAhamed unravels the story of the most terrible financial collapse in history from the perspective of the four men who were largely responsible: the leading central bankers in the United States, Britain, France and Germany
—— Mail on Sunday[a] very readable portrait of the bankers who allowed the Great Depression to happen
—— TelegraphPossibly the most important political book that I have read since The Spirit Level
—— Stuart Weir, co-founder of Charter 88, former editor of the New StatesmanHe has prised the lid off an important and terrifying can of worms
—— Martin Vander Weyer , Literary ReviewLively and well written book
—— Toby Young , Mail on SundayA welcome account of how the sun is never allowed to set on the British empire's old islands, whose fiscal pirates hoard the tax-free treasures of the rich
—— Geoffrey Robertson , New Statesman, Books of the YearShaxson delves into capitalism's secret nooks and tells us about how a culture of secrecy can perpetuate itself. Very interesting
—— William Leith , Evening StandardA compelling read [...] an important and very much a live topic, it'll take you a few hours to read the book but it will be a worthwhile investment of time
—— Peter Magee , BookbagWhat makes this such a good read for the layman is that the author employs all his journalistic skill (he used to work at Reuters) to illustrate his arguments and uses real examples to real examples to illustrate complex issues
—— John Arlidge , Sunday TimesThis book is a must-read for anyone who wants to understand the world we live in
—— Brian Maye , Irish TimesThis engrossing book about the offshore banking racket, with its eye-opening scrutiny of tax havens and the suited scoundrels who profit from them, will make you think again about the murkier side of the City...This first-rate forensic work ends with a plea that the closed City "must be abolished and submerged into a...fully democratic London"
—— Boyd Tonkin , Independent[An] informed polemic against finance capital
—— Oliver Kamm , The TimesNow more than a decade old, this is still the best introduction to the world of tax havens
—— Economist, *Summer Reads of 2022*