Neil Barofsky's new book makes headlines

Bailout, a new book by Neil Barofsky '95, catapults into the headlines (PODCAST)

As the Special Inspector General of the Troubled Asset Relief Program – or SIGTARP – from December 2008 until March 2011, Neil Barofsky '95 attracted plenty of attention. The reports issued by his office frequently made front-page news for the sharp criticism they leveled at senior Treasury Department officials involved in implementing the slew of bailout programs undertaken in response to the financial crisis. Now Barofsky is making headlines again with a just published book—Bailout: An Inside Account of How Washington Abandoned Main Street While Rescuing Wall Street.

New York Times reporter Gretchen Morgenson called the book a "must read" in her July 21 column, "Into the Bailout Buzz Saw."  "Former Insider’s Book Flays Geithner" read the headline on Mike Allen’s column in Politico, which also weighed in with a fuller look at the book. Barofsky himself penned a piece for Bloomberg, in which he states, “The American people should be revolted by a financial system that rewards failure and protects those who drove it to the point of collapse and will undoubtedly do so again.” He has also maintained a near-constant schedule of television and radio interviews, with the resulting attention driving Bailout as high as No. 18 on Amazon.com's list of best sellers. To see all the major media coverage of Bailout, visit Press Highlights.)

Barofsky joined the Law School as a senior fellow in April 2011, and spent much of the last academic year working on his book. He also taught a seminar, Government Responses to the Financial Crisis, which he will teach again this fall.

Posted on July 23, 2012; updated on July 27, 2012