Bull by the Horns: Fighting to Save Main Street from Wall Street and Wall Street from Itself by Sheila Bair

Sheila Bair’s “Bull by the Horns: Fighting to Save Main Street from Wall Street and Wall Street from Itself” is a riveting and insightful look into the 2008 financial crisis, its causes, and systems put in place to prevent another meltdown. Drawing on her experience as the chair of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) during the crisis, Bair provides an in-depth and detailed retrospective of how she fought tooth and nail to protect taxpayers, homeowners, and small businesses from the reckless actions of Wall Street.

Bair begins by mapping out the labyrinth of policies and regulations laid out by the banking industry and their disastrous consequences. She explains how the rapid expansion of lax credit policies and the consolidation of large investment and commercial banks laid the groundwork for the turmoil of 2008. She pinpoints the intense pressures of Wall Street’s bonus culture as one of the driving forces behind the risky behavior of banking executives.

Bair takes the time to examine the consequences of the government’s response to the crisis, especially the bailout and the Troubled Asset Relief Program. She sheds light on the roles of both public servants and politicians in perpetuating the bailouts and the corporate welfare system.

Throughout the book, Bair reflects on the perils and opportunities of financial reform and offers her unique perspectives on the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. She provides a comprehensive view of how the provisions of this act would help to protect taxpayers, homeowners and small businesses by strengthening consumer protection, revamping consumer financial regulation, and reshaping corporate governance and executive compensation.

Bair goes on to illustrate how the financial and regulatory systems can work together to create value for all. She urges policymakers to embrace a “public-private partnership” that could better protect the public in the form of “too-big-to-fail” reforms, as well as strengthen and foster a vibrant startup economy.

Ultimately, Bair argues that “The reform of our financial system is an essential component of our economic recuperation,” and calls for an economy founded upon smart regulation and competition, rather than one where the government picks winners and losers.

In “Bull by the Horns: Fighting to Save Main Street from Wall Street and Wall Street from Itself,” Sheila Bair provides readers with a refreshing and informative account of the 2008 financial crisis. With her thoughtful observations and analysis, she offers a vision of an economy where citizens and businesses can all flourish.