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The Committee to Destroy the World
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The Committee to Destroy the World
by Michael E. Lewitt
The Committee to Destroy the World
Acknowledgments
Introduction The Committee to Destroy the World
A Regulatory Theocracy
A Crisis Wasted
The Death of Fiscal Policy
Monetary Policy Follies
Out-of-Control Global Debt
Untamed Derivatives
Market Corruption
The Geopolitics of Appeasement
We Are On an Unsustainable Economic Path
America Must Make a Choice
A Few Words about This Book
Notes
Chapter 1 The 2008 Crisis— Tragedy or Farce?
The Death of Capital
Seeds of Instability
A Word on Speculation
Financialization
The Corruption of Moral Sentiments
Low Rates and Lax Rules
The Global Liquidity Bubble
A Crisis of Confidence
Why Finance Matters
Global Threats Require Systemic Stability
Notes
Chapter 2 The Death of Capital
The Four Essential Characteristics of Capital
How Capital Dies
The Failure of Risk Management
Notes
Chapter 3 Capital Ideas
Adam Smith and the Tyranny of Crowds
Karl Marx and the Origins of Opacity
John Maynard Keynes
Hyman Minsky
Lessons on Capital from the Masters
Notes
Chapter 4 Empty Promises
Promises Aren’t What They Used to Be
The Digitalization of Promises
Collateralized Mortgage Obligations
HSBC Drinks the Mortgage Kool-Aid
A Fetish Is Not a Promise
Notes
Chapter 5 Financialization
Money Begetting Money
Power Begetting Power
Theories of Financialization
The Monetization of Values
Notes
Chapter 6 From Innovators to Undertakers
The History of Private Equity Funds
From Boom to Bust
Private Equity Fees: The New Agency Problem
The Myth of Private Equity Returns
Men Behaving Badly
Private Equity and Cheap Debt: Birds of a Feather Flop Together
Private Equity Goes Public: A Study in the Oxymoronic
Taxing Labor as Capital
Calling Dr. Kevorkian?
Private Equity: The Damage Done
Reform of Private Equity Firms
Notes
Chapter 7 Welcome to Jurassic Park
Isla Nublar
The New DNA of Finance
Warning Signs
Dinosaurs Turn on Their Makers
Bear Stearns: First Casualty
American International Group (AIG)— Second Casualty
The Bond Insurers—Third Casualty
Taming the Beasts (Regulating Credit Derivatives)
Notes
Chapter 8 The Road to Hell
Satan in the Garden
Reverse Black Swans
Birth of the Prudent Man
The Fallacy of Diversification
Notes
Chapter 9 Finance after Armageddon
Obama Goes to Wall Street
Principles of Reform
Impose a Tax on Speculation
End Balkanized Regulation
Too Big to Fail
Improving Capital Adequacy
Reforming Monetary Policy
Enhancing Systemic Transparency
Notes
Chapter 10 Unfinished Business
Monetary Policy
Fiscal Policy and the Federal Deficit
Tax Reform
Domestic Policy
Notes
Chapter 11 How to Save Yourself
Gold
Absolute Return Strategies
Equities
Income-Generating Securities
Conclusion
Notes
Conclusion: “This Is Later”
Notes
Bibliography and Other Sources
About the Author
Index
EULA
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Acknowledgments
CONTENTS
Acknowledgments
Introduction The Committee to Destroy the World
A Regulatory Theocracy
A Crisis Wasted
The Death of Fiscal Policy
Monetary Policy Follies
Out-of-Control Global Debt
Untamed Derivatives
Market Corruption
The Geopolitics of Appeasement
We Are On an Unsustainable Economic Path
America Must Make a Choice
A Few Words about This Book
Notes
Chapter 1 The 2008 Crisis— Tragedy or Farce?
The Death of Capital
Seeds of Instability
A Word on Speculation
Financialization
The Corruption of Moral Sentiments
Low Rates and Lax Rules
The Global Liquidity Bubble
A Crisis of Confidence
Why Finance Matters
Global Threats Require Systemic Stability
Notes
Chapter 2 The Death of Capital
The Four Essential Characteristics of Capital
How Capital Dies
The Failure of Risk Management
Notes
Chapter 3 Capital Ideas
Adam Smith and the Tyranny of Crowds
Karl Marx and the Origins of Opacity
John Maynard Keynes
Hyman Minsky
Lessons on Capital from the Masters
Notes
Chapter 4 Empty Promises
Promises Aren’t What They Used to Be
The Digitalization of Promises
Collateralized Mortgage Obligations
HSBC Drinks the Mortgage Kool-Aid
A Fetish Is Not a Promise
Notes
Chapter 5 Financialization
Money Begetting Money
Power Begetting Power
Theories of Financialization
The Monetization of Values
Notes
Chapter 6 From Innovators to Undertakers
The History of Private Equity Funds
From Boom to Bust
Private Equity Fees: The New Agency Problem
The Myth of Private Equity Returns
Men Behaving Badly
Private Equity and Cheap Debt: Birds of a Feather Flop Together
Private Equity Goes Public: A Study in the Oxymoronic
Taxing Labor as Capital
Calling Dr. Kevorkian?
Private Equity: The Damage Done
Reform of Private Equity Firms
Notes
Chapter 7 Welcome to Jurassic Park
Isla Nublar
The New DNA of Finance
Warning Signs
Dinosaurs Turn on Their Makers
Bear Stearns: First Casualty
American International Group (AIG)— Second Casualty
The Bond Insurers—Third Casualty
Taming the Beasts (Regulating Credit Derivatives)
Notes
Chapter 8 The Road to Hell
Satan in the Garden
Reverse Black Swans
Birth of the Prudent Man
The Fallacy of Diversification
Notes
Chapter 9 Finance after Armageddon
Obama Goes to Wall Street
Principles of Reform
Impose a Tax on Speculation
End Balkanized Regulation
Too Big to Fail
Improving Capital Adequacy
Reforming Monetary Policy
Enhancing Systemic Transparency
Notes
Chapter 10 Unfinished Business
Monetary Policy
Fiscal Policy and the Federal Deficit
Tax Reform
Domestic Policy
Notes
Chapter 11 How to Save Yourself
Gold
Absolute Return Strategies
Equities
Income-Generating Securities
Conclusion
Notes
Conclusion: “This Is Later”
Notes
Bibliography and Other Sources
About the Author
Index
EULA
List of Tables
Introduction
Table 1.1
Table I.2
Table I.3
Table I.4
Chapter 1
Table 1.1
Table 1.2
List of Illustrations
Introduction
Figure I.1
Apocalypse Then
Figure I.2
The Committee to Destroy the World
Figure I.3
Rise in Inflation as Measured by the Government
Figure I.4
Debt Has Grown Much Faster Than the Economy in the U.S. Economy
Figure I.5
Global Debt Has Increased by $57 Trillion since 2007, Outpacing World GDP Growth
Figure I.6
The “JV” Team
Figure I.7
China’s New Silk Road
Chapter 1
Figure 1.1
United States Total Debt as Percent of GDP
Chapter 2
Figure 2.1
Capital RIP September 2008
Chapter 4
Figure 4.1
Increasing Complexity of Securitized Credit Model
Figure 4.2
Basic CMO Structure
Figure 4.3
Summary of Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation—Multiclass Mortgage Participation Certificates
Figure 4.4
Degrees of Separation
Chapter 5
Figure 5.1
Rising Post-World War II Dominance of Finance Industry and Decline of Manufacturing, 1971–2008
Figure 5.2
Consumption as a Growing Percentage of U.S. GDP, 1971–2008
Chapter 6
Figure 6.1
Institutional Leveraged Loan Market Size
Figure 6.2
Historical Growth of the CLO Market
Figure 6.3
KKR & Co. (KKR) Stock Prices, December 31, 2007, through December 31, 2015
Figure 6.4
KKR Financial Holdings, LLC (KFN) Stock Prices, December 31, 2007, through April 30, 2014
Figure 6.5
Fortress Investment Group LLC (FIG) Stock Prices, December 31, 2007, through December 31, 2015
Figure 6.6
The Blackstone Group L.P. (BX) Stock Prices, December 31, 2007, through December 31, 2015
Figure 6.7
Apollo Global Management LLC (APO) Stock Prices, March 29, 2011, through December 31, 2015
Chapter 7
Figure 7.1
Bear Stearns’ Death by CDS
Chapter 9
Figure 9.1
Growth of SIVs' Total Assets
Chapter 10
Figure 10.1
Federal Budget Deficits ($ in billions)
Guide
Cover
Table of Contents
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