Andrew Sorkin - Too Big to Fail - The Inside Story of How Wall Street and Washington Fought to Save the FinancialSystem--and Themselves

420 portrait of Alexander Hamilton: Andy Serwer, “Mr. Paulson Goes to Washington,” Fortune, November 27, 2006.

420 Duer could not cover his debts, setting off a panic: Chernow , Alexander Hamilton, 293.

421 “Nothing is breaking our way”: James. B. Stewart, “Eight Days: The Battle to Save the Financial System,” The New Yorker, September 21, 2009.

421 “Free Market Day”: Frank quipped at a hearing held on Wednesday, two days after Lehman filed for bankruptcy. “Barney Frank Celebrates Free Market Day,” Wall Street Journal, September 17, 2008.

421 Senator Jim Bunning, a Republican from Kentucky: Ted Barrett, Deirdre Walsh, and Brianna Keilar, “AIG Bailout upsets Republican lawmakers,” CNN.com, September 17, 2008.

421 Richard Shelby, Republican from Alabama: Ibid.

421 The Gold Reserve Act of 1934: See http://www.treas.gov/offices/international-affairs/esf/.

423 “DB: A Solid Counterparty”: Aaron Lucchetti, Randall Smith, and Jenny Strasburg, “Morgan Stanley in Talks with Wachovia, Others,” Wall Street Journal, September 18, 2008.

425 set up a series of phone calls for Mack, who also contacted Chuck Schumer and Hillary Clinton: First reported by Emily Thornton, “Morgan Stanley’s John Mack Swings into Action,” BusinessWeek.com, September 17, 2008.

426 “I know all of you are watching our stock price today”: “Morgan Stanley Memo: ‘There Is No Rational Basis for the Movements in Our Stock,’ ” WSJ Blog/Deal Journal, September 17, 2008.

427 “This memorandum provides a waiver… .”: Author obtained copy of memo from a FOIA request. Paulson disclosed receiving a waiver for the first time during a congressional hearing on July 16, 2009. “Paulson’s Calls to Goldman Tested Ethics,” New York Times, August 9, 2009.

428 “Stop the insanity—we need a time out”: Author obtained copy of Schorr’s e-mail.

430 “It’s one thing to complain”: Susan Pulliam, Liz Rappaport, Aaron Lucchetti, Jenny Strasburg, and Tom McGinty, “Anatomy of the Morgan Stanley Panic,” Wall Street Journal, November 24, 2008.

431 “Morgan Stanley applauds Attorney General Cuomo”: Press release, September 18, 2008. Find full text in Press section of Morgan Stanley’s company Web site, http://www.morganstanley.com.

432 “There are no atheists in foxholes”: Peter Baker, “A Professor and a Wall Street Deal Maker Bury Old Dogma on Free Markets,” New York Times, September 21, 2008.

432 Resolution Trust Corporation: Lee Davidson, “The Resolution Trust Corporation and Congress, 1989-1993,” 18, no. 2, FDIC Banking Review , 2006.

432 L. William Seidman: Greenspan, The Age of Turbulence , 116.

432 “This new governmental body”: Excerpt of an editorial written by Nicholas F. Brady, Eugene A. Ludwig, and Paul A. Volcker, “Resurrect the Resolution Trust Corp.,” Wall Street Journal, September 17, 2008.

433 “As Fears Grow, Wall St. Titans”: Ben White and Eric Dash, “As Fears Grow, Wall St. Titans See Shares Fall,” New York Times, September 17, 2008.

433 “We need a merger or we’re not going to make it”: An appended editors’ note in the New York Times on September 17, 2008, said that both Morgan Stanley and Citigroup “vigorously” denied that Mack had ever made this comment.

433 Sulzberger family pulled its money from Morgan Stanley: Sarah Ellison, “New York Times Controlling Family Moves Assets from Morgan Stanley,” Wall Street Journal, February 3, 2007.

435 Morgan Stanley’s unfailingly bearish economist: Sarah McBride, “Bearish Economist Roach Says U.S. Caused Global Recession,” Wall Street Journal Asia, July 13, 2001.

436 George Soros acolyte worth more than $3.5 billion: That week, Stanley Druckenmiller had been ranked 105 on Forbes ’s annual list of the four hundred richest Americans, with a net worth of $3.5 billion. “The Forbes 400 List,” Forbes, September 17, 2008.

438 send out a companywide e-mail: Author obtained copy of e-mail.

439 Congress to increase the debt ceiling: The “debt ceiling” was a political hot potato that would require Congress to vote to increase the amount of debt the country could take on, and Congress had just increased the amount to $10.615 trillion in July.

441 “The market is trading under the assumption”: “European Shares Rise after Central Bank Plan, Asia Losses,” Agence France-Presse, September 18, 2008.

441 FSA announcing temporary ban on short selling: David Prosser, “Hedge Funds’ Misery as FSA Bans Short-selling on 32 Firms,” Independent , September 20, 2008.

442 “The Star-Spangled Banner”: New York Times, October 2, 2008.

442 “Treasury, Fed Weighing Wider Plan”: Alison Vekshin, “Treasury, Fed Weighing Wider Plan to Ease Crisis, Schumer Says,” Bloomberg, September 18, 2008.

442 Charlie Gasparino of CNBC reported what he was hearing from his sources on Wall Street: “Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson is working on an RTC-type solution to the financial crisis, reports CNBC’s Charlie Gasparino,” CNBC, September 18, 2008.

443 “Mr. Secretary, … we would like to meet with you”: On September 28, Pelosi relayed her phone conversation with Paulson to CBS’s 60 Minutes anchor Scott Pelley. Pelley also interviewed Paulson on the show. “Secretary Paulson Details the Federal Bailout,” 60 Minutes, CBS, September 28, 2008.

445 The notion of becoming a bank holding company: Jon Hilsenrath, Damian Paletta, and Aaron Lucchetti, “Goldman, Morgan Scrap Wall Street Model, Become Banks in Bid to Ride Out Crisis,” Wall Street Journal, September 22, 2008.

445 to meet with the congressional leadership at Nancy Pelosi’s office: The meeting took place on the second floor of the Capitol, in a conference room beside Pelosi’s personal suite. Carl Hulse and David M. Herszenhorn, “Behind Closed Doors, Warnings of Calamity,” New York Times, September 20, 2008.

446 “I spent my career as an academic studying great depressions”: Bernanke, as quoted by Wessel, In FED We Trust, 203.

446 noticeably gulped: As Schumer himself told the New York Times, “When you listened to him describe it, you gulped.” David M. Herszenhorn, “Congressional Leaders Stunned by Warnings,” New York Times, September 19, 2008.

446 “What about the home owner?”: Wessel, In FED We Trust.

446 Richard Shelby disapprovingly characterized: “If we say ‘whatever it takes,’ that means there’s a blank check of the treasury, future generations, to pay for the mistakes of a lot of people.”

446 “If it doesn’t pass, then heaven help us all”: Deborah Solomon, Liz Rappaport, Damian Paletta, and Jon Hilsenrath, “Shock Forced Paulson’s Hand,” Wall Street Journal, September 20, 2008.

446 “Do you know what you are asking me to do?”: New York Times, September 20, 2008.

447 “I think we need to do this”: McConnell, a Republican senator from Kentucky and Republican leader of the Senate, who often spars with Reid on the Senate floor, “reached over to assure his colleague they could work it out.” New York Times, September 20, 2008.

447 put in place a ban on shorting financial stocks: The SEC issued a press release on the morning of Friday, September 19, that read: “Given the importance of confidence in financial markets, the SEC’s action halts short selling in 799 financial institutions. The SEC’s emergency order … will be immediately effective and will terminate at 11:59 p.m. ET on Oct. 2, 2008. The Commission may extend the order beyond 10 business days if it deems an extension necessary in the public interest and for the protection of investors, but will not extend the order for more than 30 calendar days in total duration.” See http://www.sec.gov/news/press/2008/2008-211.htm.