TARP former inspector general Neil Barofsky '95 pens book

Senior Fellow Neil Barofsky ’95 has written a book about the $700 billion bailout of the financial industry that he helped oversee as special inspector general of the controversial Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP). In Bailout: An Inside Account of How Washington Abandoned Main Street While Rescuing Wall Street, Barofsky recounts his clashes with the Treasury Department and Bush and Obama administration officials over two and a half years as he worked to prevent fraud and abuse in the bailout. The Free Press will release the book on July 24.

According to the publisher, Barofsky criticizes both Bush and Obama officials who were “in thrall to the interests of big banks” and charges the Treasury Department with mismanaging TARP, failing to reform the financial system, and breaking its promises to struggling homeowners.

The forthcoming book offers behind-the-scenes accounts of Barofsky’s conflicts with Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner; Bush-appointed “TARP Czar” Neel Kashkari; and Kashkari’s successor, Herb Allison. Barofsky also recounts how his reports on criminal mortgage fraud and other abuses perpetrated against homeowners were ignored time and time again, and reveals how the failure of TARP has put the country in danger of an even bigger crisis in the future.

Barofsky joined NYU Law as a special fellow after resigning from TARP in March 2011.

Posted May 29, 2012