Collusion
How Central Bankers Rigged the World
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Narrated by:
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Ellen Archer
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By:
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Nomi Prins
About this listen
In this searing expose, former Wall Street insider Nomi Prins shows how the 2007-2008 financial crisis turbo-boosted the influence of central bankers and triggered a massive shift in the world order. Central banks and international institutions like the IMF have overstepped their traditional mandates by directing the flow of epic sums of fabricated money without any checks or balances. Meanwhile, the open door between private and central banking has ensured endless opportunities for market manipulation and asset bubbles - with government support.
Through on-the-ground reporting, Prins reveals how five regions and their central banks reshaped economics and geopolitics. She discloses how Mexico navigated its relationship with the US while striving for independence and how Brazil led the BRICS countries to challenge the US dollar's hegemony. She explains how China's retaliation against the Fed's supremacy is aiding its ongoing ascent as a global superpower and how Japan is negotiating the power shift from the West to the East. And she illustrates how the European response to the financial crisis fueled instability that manifests itself in everything from rising populism to the shocking Brexit vote.
Packed with tantalizing details about the elite players orchestrating the world economy - from Janet Yellen and Mario Draghi to Ben Bernanke and Christine Lagarde - Collusion takes the listener inside the most discreet conversations at exclusive retreats like Jackson Hole and Davos.
A work of meticulous reporting and bracing analysis, Collusion will change the way we understand the new world of international finance.
©2018 Nomi Prins (P)2018 Hachette AudioListeners also enjoyed...
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Critic reviews
"Central banks, led by the Federal Reserve, are the opioids for private banks addicted to being reckless with other people's money. Prins, drawing from her previous work in Wall Street firms and her present field research around the world, says, 'We are headed for another epic fall.' Taxpayers, workers and consumers who will suffer from another bailout, all better read this clear, concise, compelling book." (Ralph Nader)
"A somber, important warning that's likely to cause readers to wonder about the safety of their assets, if not fear for the near-term future." (Kirkus Reviews)
"[An] unflinching, troubling exposé... well worth a close read by anyone looking to understand the roots of the last crash and prepare for the next." (Publishers Weekly)
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Great facts (if selective); ideological rigidity
- By Philo on 02-04-16
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13 Bankers
- The Wall Street Takeover and the Next Financial Meltdown
- By: Simon Johnson, James Kwak
- Narrated by: Erik Synnestvedt
- Length: 8 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
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Even after the ruinous financial crisis of 2008, America is still beset by the depredations of an oligarchy that is now bigger, more profitable, and more resistant to regulation than ever. Anchored by six megabanks, which together control assets amounting to more than 60 percent of the country's gross domestic product, these financial institutions (now more emphatically "too big to fail") continue to hold the global economy hostage.
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Easy to Understand and Comprehend
- By Kyle on 04-11-10
By: Simon Johnson, and others
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A Monetary and Fiscal History of the United States, 1961-2021
- By: Alan S. Blinder
- Narrated by: Todd McLaren
- Length: 15 hrs and 12 mins
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Alan Blinder, one of the world's most influential economists and one of the field's best writers, draws on his deep firsthand experience to provide an authoritative account of sixty years of monetary and fiscal policy in the United States. Spanning twelve presidents, from John F. Kennedy to Joe Biden, and eight Federal Reserve chairs, from William McChesney Martin to Jerome Powell, this is an insider's story of macroeconomic policy that hasn't been told before—one that is a pleasure to listen to, and as interesting as it is important.
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Listen for Nixon's Sake
- By Tricia on 10-26-22
By: Alan S. Blinder
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Why Save the Bankers?
- And Other Essays on Our Economic and Political Crisis
- By: Thomas Piketty, Seth Ackerman - translator
- Narrated by: LJ Ganser
- Length: 5 hrs and 1 min
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Thomas Piketty's work has proved that unfettered markets lead to increasing inequality. Without meaningful regulation, capitalist economies will concentrate wealth in an ever smaller number of hands. Armed with this knowledge, democratic societies face a defining challenge: fending off a new aristocracy. For years Piketty has wrestled with this problem in his monthly newspaper column, which pierces the surface of current events to reveal the economic forces underneath.
By: Thomas Piketty, and others
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Globalization and Its Discontents
- By: Joseph E. Stiglitz
- Narrated by: Derek Perkins
- Length: 10 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
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This powerful, unsettling book gives us a rare glimpse behind the closed doors of global financial institutions by the winner of the 2001 Nobel Prize in Economics. When it was first published, this national best-seller quickly became a touchstone in the globalization debate. Renowned economist and Nobel Prize winner Joseph E. Stiglitz had a ringside seat for most of the major economic events of the last decade, including stints as chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers and chief economist at the World Bank.
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Plea
- By Asma on 10-13-20
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The Shifts and the Shocks
- What We've Learned - and Have Still to Learn - from the Financial Crisis
- By: Martin Wolf
- Narrated by: Sean Pratt
- Length: 14 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
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The Shifts and the Shocks is not another detailed history of the crisis, but the most persuasive and complete account yet published of what the crisis should teach us about modern economies and economics. The audiobook identifies the origin of the crisis in the complex interaction between globalization, hugely destabilizing global imbalances and our dangerously fragile financial system.
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Good on Europe's problems, fair global update
- By Philo on 01-08-15
By: Martin Wolf
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An Extraordinary Time
- The End of the Postwar Boom and the Return of the Ordinary Economy
- By: Marc Levinson
- Narrated by: James Foster
- Length: 10 hrs and 55 mins
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A sweeping reappraisal of the last sixty years of world history, An Extraordinary Time describes how the postwar economic boom dissipated, undermining faith in government, destabilizing the global financial system, and forcing us to come to terms with how tumultuous our economy really is.
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Good review of crucial turning point in history
- By Philo on 11-22-16
By: Marc Levinson
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Red Flags
- Why Xi's China Is in Jeopardy
- By: George Magnus
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Over the past four decades, China's remarkable transformation has garnered admiration but also sparked concern. George Magnus draws on his intimate knowledge of this dynamic nation to uncover the origins of its ascent and show why the economic traps it faces at home and the political challenges it faces abroad pose a serious threat to its continued rise.
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A pessimistic vision with western liberal bias
- By Jeronimo L. Jimenez on 10-23-20
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And the Weak Suffer What They Must?
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In January 2015, Yanis Varoufakis, an economics professor teaching in Austin, Texas, was elected to the Greek parliament with more votes than any other member of parliament. He was appointed finance minister, and, in the whirlwind five months that followed, everything he had warned about was confirmed as the "troika" (the European Central Bank, International Monetary Fund, and European Commission) stonewalled his efforts to resolve Greece's economic crisis.
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interesting perspective
- By Jamila on 07-12-20
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The End of Alchemy
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- By: Mervyn King
- Narrated by: Greg Wagland
- Length: 14 hrs and 3 mins
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Something is wrong with our banking system. We all sense that, but Mervyn King knows it firsthand; his 10 years at the helm of the Bank of England, including at the height of the financial crisis, revealed profound truths about the mechanisms of our capitalist society. In The End of Alchemy, he offers us an essential work about the history and future of money and banking, the keys to modern finance.
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Two books in one, both very fine
- By Philo on 07-13-16
By: Mervyn King
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Dead Aid
- Why Aid Is Not Working and How There Is a Better Way for Africa
- By: Dambisa Moyo, Niall Ferguson - foreword
- Narrated by: Mike Chamberlain
- Length: 6 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
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A national best-seller, Dead Aid unflinchingly confronts one of the greatest myths of our time: that billions of dollars in aid sent from wealthy countries to developing African nations has helped to reduce poverty and increase growth. In fact, poverty levels continue to escalate and growth rates have steadily declined - and millions continue to suffer. Debunking the current model of international aid promoted by both Hollywood celebrities and policy makers, Dambisa Moyo offers a bold new road map for financing the development of the world's poorest countries.
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Dangerous / Right Wing US view
- By David O'Donovan on 03-05-19
By: Dambisa Moyo, and others
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The Age of Oversupply
- Overcoming the Greatest Challenge to the Global Economy
- By: Daniel Alpert
- Narrated by: Don Hagen
- Length: 10 hrs and 34 mins
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The governments and central banks of the developed world have tried every policy tool imaginable, yet our economies remain sluggish, or worse. How did we get here, and how can we emerge from the longest downturn in recent memory? Daniel Alpert, a progressive Wall Street banker and economist, argues that we are living in the age of oversupply.
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Great book but now out of date
- By emory morsberger on 11-30-17
By: Daniel Alpert
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Borrowed Time
- Two Centuries of Booms, Busts, and Bailouts at Citi
- By: James Freeman, Vern McKinley
- Narrated by: Fred Sanders
- Length: 11 hrs and 51 mins
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To save the economy and keep Citi afloat in 2008, the government provided huge infusions of cash through multiple bailouts that frustrated and angered the American public. But, as Wall Street Journal writer James Freeman and financial expert Vern McKinley reveal, the 2008 crisis was just one of many disasters Citi has experienced since its founding more than 200 years ago. In Borrowed Time they reveal Citi’s disturbing history of instability and government support. It’s a story that neither Citi nor Washington wants told.
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Biased
- By CF on 08-09-19
By: James Freeman, and others
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What listeners say about Collusion
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- The_Skywalker
- 06-03-19
A must read!
This is the all in one source of information on the smoke and mirrors that's happening to our worldwide economic system
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- Amazon Customer
- 07-29-19
Great read
As always, this author never disappoints with her work. Very informative. Will share this book with family and friends
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- Anonymous User
- 01-31-23
Very detailed
Would have liked to read something about the 9/11 and the 2008 crash the market crash otherwise it was very detail and very illuminating.
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- Philo
- 05-09-18
Fair history survey, lazy characterizations
Why do I read a book -- "hire" an author? To get unique value. Here, I had trailed off on the central bank story some in recent years, so a survey of the recent history would have some value. This work, on its facts, was mostly content I could get from a google search of key headline articles over the same time span. No, we are not made privy to these whispered confidential insider conversations, as the publisher's teaser hints. Mostly we get the basic facts alongside public PR press releases of the top central bankers and finance ministers. This recounting was worthwhile but not standout; it was useful to see a compendium of the rhetoric of these officials and nations, back and forth. That is the better aspect and value of this book: it is pretty good as a basic history recital.
How about the analysis, then? Instantly, peeves jumped out here. One was the repetition of certain trademark phrases, murky and ill-defined. Collusion was one. How is it distinguished from cooperation? Well, if one accepts the (not thoroughly historically grounded) evil bankers subtext, then I guess we could use that term carelessly thereafter. But that narrative, often some sort of faintly leftish populist whining to my ears, isn't neatly pinned to the history and facts. We just need to swallow the author's POV. A better book, IMO, would elevate the discussion by explicating the nuances, dilemmas, trade-offs and alternatives faced by these actors in those times. Instead, we have simplistic breezy passages skipping by these matters, and too much of a tone of resentful sniping (expressed in simplistic, overused catch-phrases). I guess I should be satisfied with these cues for what I should uncritically conclude alongside this author. Of course elitist bankers who go to Davos are wrecking our lives and crushing the noble aspirations of emerging economies, right? (I do agree with her point that the Fed fumbled subprime regulation pre-crisis. OK, there is a whole history there, written up elsewhere, not explicated here, but then? What new insights are to be found? Once the edifice was in collapse, after centuries of a buildup of this semi-private weird banking system, AT THAT JUNCTURE, what tools were at hand, what alternative risks? Eternal resentment is the cheap shot for a thinker and author, I believe.) How, for example, would things be different if the (supposedly) noble Joe Six-Packs of the world (who had just themselves heedlessly plunged off a cliff into subprime home loans they signed) had been simply handed wads of money? That is impliedly (I think? I am left to conjecture in this murk) suggested as a better thing, but not explored. What might have happened without these bankers' machinations? We simply get recrimination here, mostly. This same casual tossing about of words and assumptions surrounds the oft-used (and useless, and carelessly constructed, and pejorative) term money-conjuring. Hello: we got a central bank to get elasticity in currency aggregates when needed. But none of that (troublingly nuanced and complex stuff, though not beyond the reach of this book's audience) is here. Instead, we can take a sniping tone to suggest these Davos elites are some sort of malevolent witches, cackling and conjuring money as if around a cartoon cauldron. So too, this author in any situation of ambiguity invariably defaults to criticizing US financial elites, versus any of the other (I will say, at least equally greedy, scheming, self-interested) players and I think she tends to laud others in other nations who are playing the same games, usually less aptly (IMO).
Finally, the excessive casualness appears in imputing intentions and motives to people and whole nations unsupported by the data points provided. Several times we are told what Ben Bernanke's aims were, alongside his quotes that are more intelligent and nuanced than the author tried to nudge us to believe. And, I recall a phrase, not unusual in its style in this book, of the sort, "the United States believed ...." That is absurd on its face. The USA is not a monolithic entity that believes some simple linear thing. Some person(s) within the USA took a position, yes. It would be more accurate to call the USA completely schizophrenic than to impute such a narrow belief. I.e., this has low information content.
I would, if editing this, have, I believe, helped push this author harder point by point to produce a far more justifiably penetrating and influential work. The promise is here, the framework is here, the execution falls short. I think All the President's Bankers by her had almost identical issues.
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15 people found this helpful
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- William D Harris
- 08-09-18
A clear insightful narrative of monetary collusion
Greatly enjoyed book and insightful narrative of monetary collusion as it delved into the role big banks played in its aftermath.
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- robert e kehoe
- 01-02-19
Collusion
loved the book and the detail within.
Proving and providing how the rich got richer.
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- steve
- 04-12-23
Excellent book
Narration is well done
I read this book to learn about the central banks. I suspected there was collusion of some type.
Naomi details the collusion in an interesting way…never boring. Well worth your time
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- Tony Gerena
- 11-15-18
Great behind the scenes detail
If you're looking for in depth detail on central bankers, their actions and the effects around the world..this book is for you. Gives a different perspective of the chaos that's occurred for the last several decades.
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- Johan
- 11-07-19
Central banks is the biggest scam
Very insightful book and it's actually scary to think that the collusion is still going on today
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- Cameron U
- 03-27-24
Excellent telling of a complex economic tale
First I would like to say that I thoroughly enjoyed your book permanent distortions. For someone to fully appreciate collusion, reading that first would definitely be helpful.
I’ve been studying economics on my own for several years and find your intellectual honesty refreshing. You are obviously somewhat farther to the left politically than I am, and I cringed at what I found to be gratuitous comments about Trump which had nothing to do with the story, but I will read anything you write about economics.
I would love for you to give Jennifer Burns a call. I’m sure you’re familiar with her and her recent publication Milton Friedman the last conservative. His contribution to economics Is enormous and the application of his monetary theory by Paul Volcker as told by Jennifer Burns is fascinating.
In permanent distortion you tell the story of the unraveling of what I would consider the natural law of economics, supply and demand, consumption function, effects of creating or conjuring as you said all this money out of nowhere has led to unexpected consequences On a massive global scale. I’d love for you to write about what I consider to be the use of reverse repos To help keep cash out of the real economy as well as other tricks they’ve used.
I just specially like for you to give Jennifer Burns a call and for you guys to Co-author a book on the. Especially from 2007 Forward. With your expertise in hindsight, I would like for you to evaluate the effect of Lynn and Johnson‘s war on poverty and Vietnam war expenditures at the same time implementing the Kennedy tax cuts which is I understand it was the real beginning of the inflation that would run rampant at the end of Jimmy Carter’s term and lead to his losing the election.
The delays associated with the actions that are being taken cause so much misinterpretation of what’s going on in the economics globally. I’d like your evaluation of the feds basically taking on the liability for every dollar in every bank even though they’re not officially insured as a result of the Silicon Valley banks bail out. I’ll stop here you know the list. Please give Jennifer Burns a call. I am waiting for that book!
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