Financial History Issue 130 (Summer 2019) | Page 41
BOOK REVIEW
be a self-fulfilling prophecy for a finan-
cial firm… In fact the entire business
model that produced Bear was now under
suspicion.”
The foot-dragging and outright obstruc-
tion of some entities was breathtaking,
even once the momentum had turned to
recovery and reform. “The Home Afford-
able Modification Program was a logistical
nightmare,” the authors lament, “reliant
on a dysfunctional loan-servicing indus-
try that routinely lost paperwork, failed
to return phone calls, and generally gave
borrowers the run-around. Tim’s team
at Treasury thought about setting up its
own servicing program from scratch,
but decided there was not enough time,
and banks were reluctant to invest in the
infrastructure they would have needed to
identify the mortgages that were suitable
for modifications and get the deals done
quickly.”
It will take “a long period of less profli-
gate policy choices and benign economic
conditions to restore America’s macro-
economic firepower to levels that could
help end another emergency,” the authors
caution. “Right now, even a modest reces-
sion could leave Washington without
much fiscal leeway to respond to a finan-
cial crisis, or for that matter upgrade
infrastructure, tackle the opioid epidemic,
WALL STREET
WALKS
address climate change, stabilize Social
Security, or provide permanent tax relief
for hard-working families. America was
grappling with rising income inequality,
middle-class insecurity, and other eco-
nomic challenges well before the Crisis of
2008. But the crisis made them worse, and
unsustainable budget deficits could hobble
our ability to deal with them.”
Gregory DL Morris is an independent
business journalist, principal of Enter-
prise & Industry Historic Research
(www.enterpriseandindustry.com) and
an active member of the Museum’s edito-
rial board.
Wall Street Walks takes visitors through
the historic capital of world finance — the one-
square-mile of downtown Manhattan known
as “Wall Street.” Our visitors learn about people,
places and events comprising over 200 years of
history, as they walk among locations where
it all happened.
• Regular public tours daily, except Sunday.
• Group and private tours available.
Proud walking tour partner of the Museum of
American Finance.
CONTACT:
www.WallStreetWalks.com
tours@wallstreetwalks.com
212-666-0175 (office)
212-209-3370 (ticket hotline)
www.MoAF.org | Summer 2019 | FINANCIAL HISTORY 39