Cohan William

If you like your smartphone or your widescreen TV, your car or your pension, then, whether you know it or not, you are a fan of Wall Street. William D. Cohan, bestselling author of House of Cards, has long been critical of the bad behaviour that plagued much of Wall Street in the years leading up to the 2008 financial crisis, and, as an ex-banker, he is an expert on its inner workings as well. But in recent years he has become alarmed by the vitriol directed at the bankers, traders and executives who keep the wheels of our economy turning. Why Wall Street Matters is a timely and trenchant reminder of the dire consequences for us all if the essential role these institutions play in making our lives better is carelessly curtailed.

It was Wall Street's toughest investment bank, taking risks where others feared to tread, run by testosterone-fuelled gamblers who hung a sign saying 'let's make nothing but money' over the trading floor. Yet in March 2008 the 85-year-old firm Bear Stearns was brought to its knees - and global economic meltdown began. With unprecedented access to the people at the eye of the financial storm, William Cohan tells the outrageous story of how Wall Street's entire house of cards came crashing down. 'Gripping ...high drama ...riveting, edge-of-the-seat reading' - Michio Kakutani, "The New York Times".

A magisterial history of the astounding rise - and unimaginable fall - of America's most iconic corporationPerhaps no company reflects American ingenuity, innovation, and industrial fortunes as well as the iconic General Electric Company. Producing storied leaders and almost every product imaginable, GE built a cult of success that hid cracks in its foundation. In this masterful history, William D. Cohan, one of America's most pre-eminent financial journalists, argues that GE's legacy is both a paragon and a cautionary tale through which to understand twentieth-century America. Power Failure limns the eventful 130-year history of GE, bringing fresh analysis drawn from rare interviews with key figures of the company's golden era, including Jack Welch himself. As Cohan recounts, Welch traded on a sterling legacy to make GE the most valuable and respected company in the world, while cloaking its vulnerabilities. What he handed to his successor Jeffrey Immelt was, Cohan argues, both an impossible standard and a more troubled reality. Tracing the company's leaps and stumbles through the personalities that defined it, Power Failure offers a surprising retelling of the GE story, puncturing the myth we think we know for a fresh look at its legacy - and what it tells us about the state of the financial world.