Photo, above: our boys in finance. From left: Goldman's Lloyd Blankfein, J.P. Morgan Chase's Jamie Dimon, Citigroup's Vikram Pandit, and Merrill Lynch's John Thain leaving the Treasury in October 2008 after being offered a $125 billion bailout package.

. . . I took a deep breath and walked into the large conference room at the Treasury Department. I was apprehensive and exhausted, having spent the entire weekend in marathon meetings with Treasury and the Fed. I felt myself start to tremble, and I hugged my thick briefing binder tightly to my chest in an effort to camouflage my nervousness. Nine men stood milling around in the room, peremptorily summoned there by Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson. Collectively, they headed financial institutions representing about $9 trillion in assets, or 70% of the U.S. financial system. I'd be damned if I'd let them see me shaking. I nodded briefly in their direction and started to make my way to the opposite side of the large polished-mahogany table, where I and the rest of the government's representatives would take our seats, facing off against the nine financial executives once the meeting began. My effort to slide around the group and escape the need for hand shaking and chitchat was foiled as . . .   [more]   . . . Pandit looked nervous, and no wonder. More than any other institution represented in that room, his bank was in trouble. Frankly, I doubted that he was up to the job. He had been brought in to clean up the mess at Citi. He had gotten the job with the support of Robert Rubin, the former secretary of the Treasury who now served as Citi's titular head. I thought Pandit had been a poor choice. He was a hedge fund manager by occupation and one with a mixed record at that. He had no experience . . .    [more]    . . . Blankfein and Mack listened attentively to whatever it was Dimon was saying. They headed the country's two leading investment firms, both of which were teetering on the edge . . .    [more]

JOHN BATCHELOR SHOW

Hour One

Sunday 26 May  2013 / Hour 1, Block A: The Lost Bank: The Story of Washington Mutual-The Biggest Bank Failure in American History by Grind, Kirsten

Sunday 26 May  2013 / Hour 1, Block B:  The Lost Bank: The Story of Washington Mutual-The Biggest Bank Failure in American History by Grind, Kirsten

Sunday 26 May  2013 / Hour 1, Block C: . The Lost Bank: The Story of Washington Mutual-The Biggest Bank Failure in American History by Grind, Kirsten

Sunday 26 May  2013 / Hour 1, Block D:  The Lost Bank: The Story of Washington Mutual-The Biggest Bank Failure in American History by Grind, Kirsten

Picture, right: WaMu 2008 collapse   On Thursday, September 25, 2008, the United States Office of Thrift Supervision seized Washington Mutual Bank from Washington Mutual, Inc. and placed it into receivership with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. The OTS took the action due to the withdrawal of $16.7 billion in deposits during a 9-day bank run.

Hour Two

Sunday 26 May  2013 / Hour 2, Block A:  . Bailout: An Inside Account of How Washington Abandoned Main Street While Rescuing Wall Street by Barofsky, Neil

Sunday 26 May  2013 / Hour 2, Block B:  . Bailout: An Inside Account of How Washington Abandoned Main Street While Rescuing Wall Street by Barofsky, Neil

Sunday 26 May  2013 / Hour 2, Block C:  . Bailout: An Inside Account of How Washington Abandoned Main Street While Rescuing Wall Street by Barofsky, Neil

Sunday 26 May  2013 / Hour 2, Block D:  Bailout: An Inside Account of How Washington Abandoned Main Street While Rescuing Wall Street by Barofsky, Neil

Hour Three

Sunday 26 May  2013 / Hour 3, Block A:  The Wizard of Lies: Bernie Madoff and the Death of Trust by Henriques, Diana B

Sunday 26 May  2013 / Hour 3, Block B:  The Wizard of Lies: Bernie Madoff and the Death of Trust by Henriques, Diana B

Sunday 26 May  2013 / Hour 3, Block C:  The Wizard of Lies: Bernie Madoff and the Death of Trust by Henriques, Diana B

Sunday 26 May  2013 / Hour 3, Block D: The Wizard of Lies: Bernie Madoff and the Death of Trust by Henriques, Diana B

Hour Four

Sunday 26 May  2013 / Hour 4, Block A:  The Fateful History of Fannie Mae: New Deal Birth to Mortgage Crisis Fall by Hagerty, James R.

Sunday 26 May  2013 / Hour 4, Block B:  The Fateful History of Fannie Mae: New Deal Birth to Mortgage Crisis Fall by Hagerty, James R.

Sunday 26 May  2013 / Hour 4, Block C:  The Unfair Trade: how our broken global financial system destroys the middle class by Casey, Michael

Sunday 26 May  2013 / Hour 4, Block D: The Unfair Trade: how our broken global financial system destroys the middle class by Casey, Michael

..  ..  ..

Music

Hour 1:

Hour 2:

Hour 3:

Hour 4:

..