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Janet M. Tavakoli
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Decisions: Life and Death on Wall Street (Tavakoli Finance) Paperback – March 30, 2015

by Janet M. Tavakoli (Author)
3.9 out of 5 stars 119 ratings
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What Would You Be Willing to Do for Money and Power?

In this gripping expose, Janet Tavakoli, a Wall Street insider, takes readers on a heart-pounding journey through high finance, where billions are made and lost on the whims of the powerful, and lives hang in the balance.

From the glittering trading floors of New York to the shadowy backrooms of Washington D.C., Tavakoli unravels the complex web of deceit, greed, and corruption that led to the 2008 financial crisis and continues to threaten the global economy today. With razor-sharp insight and unflinching honesty, she reveals:
  • The shocking truth behind the subprime mortgage meltdown and the subsequent bailouts that made the rich wealthier and left taxpayers footing the bill
  • The dangerous games played by Wall Street titans using exotic financial instruments like credit derivatives and CDOs
  • The revolving door between regulators and the banks they're supposed to oversee and how it perpetuates a culture of corruption
  • The human cost of financial malfeasance, including suicides, ruined lives, and shattered dreams
As Tavakoli navigates this treacherous landscape, she encounters a cast of larger-than-life characters:
  • Jamie Dimon, the charismatic CEO of JPMorgan Chase, whose confidence borders on arrogance
  • Hank Paulson, the former Treasury Secretary who orchestrated the largest bailout in history while protecting his Wall Street cronies
  • Bill Broeksmit, a brilliant derivatives pioneer whose tragic end raises disturbing questions about the pressures faced by those who know too much
With the pacing of a thriller and the authority of an insider, Tavakoli connects the dots between seemingly unrelated events, exposing a pattern of systemic fraud and abuse that continues today. She asks the tough questions others are afraid to voice: Why have no high-level executives been prosecuted for their role in the crisis? How deep does the corruption go? And what will it take to finally bring about real change?

Decisions: Life and Death on Wall Street is more than just an exposé —it's a wake-up call to all Americans. Tavakoli passionately argues that without serious reform and accountability, we're doomed to repeat the mistakes of the past, with ever-more devastating consequences.

This book will change the way you think about:
  • The actual causes of the 2008 financial crisis and why we're still at risk
  • How Wall Street uses complex financial instruments to game the system
  • The cozy relationship between banks, regulators, and politicians
  • What real financial reform would look like and why it's so desperately needed
Whether you're a finance professional, a policy maker, or a concerned citizen, "Decisions" will open your eyes to the reality behind the headlines and empower you to demand change. Tavakoli's courage in speaking truth to power inspires us all, reminding us that one person can make a difference.

Take advantage of this explosive account from one of Wall Street's most respected and feared voices. Decisions: Life and Death on Wall Street is essential for anyone who wants to understand the forces shaping our economic future and the high stakes in bringing about real change.

Praise for Decisions: Life and Death on Wall Street

"Merrill debauchery only begins this woman's tale. 'Neither Bill nor I believed Calvi committed suicide,' Tavakoli writes. 'Bill joked that he'd never hang himself. It was too gruesome.'"
Bloomberg News

"Tavakoli takes us on a scenic tour of the recent lowlights of Wall Street and Washington—tragically human. It's a compelling tale.”
Jake Bernstein, winner of the Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting
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Previous slide of product details
  1. Print length
    103 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publication date
    March 30, 2015
  4. Dimensions
    5 x 0.26 x 8 inches
  5. ISBN-10
    0985159073
  6. ISBN-13
    978-0985159078
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The Amazon Book Review
Book recommendations, author interviews, editors' picks, and more. Read it now.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Praise for Decisions: Life and Death on Wall Street

"Tavakoli takes us on a scenic tour of the recent lowlights of Wall Street and Washington...demystified and rendered tragically human. It's a compelling tale."
Jake Bernstein, winner of the Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting

"Janet Tavakoli is a born storyteller with an incredible tale to tell. She takes us on a brisk journey from the depravity of 1980s Wall Street to the systemic recklessness that crushed the global economy."
Nomi Prins, author of All the Presidents' Bankers

"Merrill Debauchery Only Begins This Woman's Tale... 'Neither Bill nor I believed Calvi committed suicide,' Tavakoli writes. 'Bill joked that he'd never hang himself. It was too gruesome.'"
Bloomberg News

"Good things sometimes happen in life. Janet Tavakoli's latest book. Recommend it to all financial professionals."
Global Association of Risk Professionals

"An authority on credit derivatives, has written a reflective memoir about life in the world of finance. Tavakoli is not a woman who employs words carelessly, and when she says fraud she means ... fraud."
All About Alpha

Praise for Janet M. Tavakoli

"She knows her stuff, has strong opinions, and turns a colourful quote."
Financial Times

"Janet Tavakoli knows more about the inside of the financial world than nearly anyone else!"
Jim Rogers, Author of Street Smarts - Adventures on the Road and in the Markets

"Intelligent analyst whose command of the arcane world...mixed with a brutally honest analytical framework makes it a pleasure to read her work."
Asia Times Online

From the Author

Decisions, is a short nonfiction Wall Street memoir. The pressures of Wall Street's low moral tone and an interconnected web of decisions reshaped people's lives, drove some to despair, and changed the landscape of global finance.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Lyons McNamara LLC
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ March 30, 2015
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 103 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0985159073
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0985159078
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 5.9 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5 x 0.26 x 8 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    3.9 out of 5 stars 119 ratings

About the author

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Janet M. Tavakoli

Janet M. Tavakoli

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Janet Tavakoli is the president of Tavakoli Structured Finance, a derivatives risk consulting firm for financial institutions. She has worked as a chemical engineer, earned her MBA from the University of Chicago, taught derivatives as an adjunct associate professor of finance at the University of Chicago's Booth Business School (Graduate School of Business), and worked for Wall Street firms in New York, Tokyo, and London. She was born and raised in Chicago, Illinois, lived in Iran during the Islamic revolution, lived in New York for a decade, lived in London for several years, and has traveled extensively for business and pleasure in Europe and Japan.

She is the author of Credit Derivatives (Three editions; Wiley 1998, 2001, and Lyons McNamara 2022), Risk (2016), Decisions: Life and Death on Wall Street (2015), , Structured Finance & Collateralized Debt Obligations (Wiley 2003, 2008), and Dear Mr. Buffett: What an Investor Learns 1,269 Miles from Wall Street, (Wiley 2009).

The New Robber Barons (Lyons McNamara, 2013), is a compilation of her web-based commentaries since the September 2008 financial crisis through February 2012.

Archangels: Rise of the Jesuits (Lyons McNamara, 2013) is her financial-fiction debut thriller.

Unveiled Threat: A Personal Experience of Fundamentalist Islam and the Roots of Terrorism (Lyons McNamara, 2014) is a non-fiction thriller and commentary.

Ms. Tavakoli is frequently quoted in the Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, New York Times, Business Week, Bloomberg News. Television appearances include CBS's 60 Minutes, CNN, C-Span, CNBC, BNN, CBS Evening News, Bloomberg TV, Fox, ABC, and BBC.

Trade books: www dot tavakolistructuredfinance dot com

Novels: www dot janettavakoli dot com

Customer reviews

3.9 out of 5 stars
119 global ratings

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Customers say

Customers find the book an excellent read with a fluid and accessible writing style. Moreover, they appreciate the valuable inside information about Wall Street scandals. Additionally, the book's length receives positive feedback, with one customer noting it's compacted into less than 100 pages.

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7 customers mention "Readability"7 positive0 negative

Customers find the book to be an excellent and entertaining read.

"...This book is enraging since it clearly demonstrates how a bunch of pompous sociopaths managed to privatize rewards and socialize risk in the..." Read more

"as of this read....this is a very good, interesting book. Actually she worked within...." Read more

"Interesting read. However, for someone who is not that familiar with the world and lingo of finance it is a bit hard to follow...." Read more

"...Excellent reading for those who want to know." Read more

5 customers mention "Writing style"5 positive0 negative

Customers appreciate the writing style of the book, describing it as fluid and accessible, with one customer noting that the author can explain complex concepts in a way that anyone can understand.

"...that left me scratching my head, but Ms. Tavakoli has a fluid and accessible writing style that allows the reader to understand what happened, why..." Read more

"...Still well written, but not definitive." Read more

"This book is short and easy to understand. I like that style of writing...." Read more

"...It's eye opening, written by a person who was there, has integrity and credentials, and can explain things so anybody can understand...." Read more

3 customers mention "Interest"3 positive0 negative

Customers find the book interesting and valuable for its inside information about Wall Street scandals.

"as of this read....this is a very good, interesting book. Actually she worked within...." Read more

"Valuable inside information and insight about the Wall Street scandals that have threatened to bring down the U.S. financial system." Read more

"Interesting but hard to follow..." Read more

3 customers mention "Length"3 positive0 negative

Customers appreciate the book's concise length, with one mentioning it is compacted into less than 100 pages.

"This book is short and easy to understand. I like that style of writing...." Read more

"...'s writings and insight distilled to its key points and compacted into less than 100 pages." Read more

"Excellent read. It is short and to the point. She explains what happened and shows the distortions which were often reported." Read more

Top reviews from the United States

  • D. Buxman
    5.0 out of 5 stars A Highly Engrossing and Accessible Account of the Decay of our Economic and Political System
    Reviewed in the United States on April 8, 2015
    Verified Purchase
    If you want to understand how the biggest theft in world history took place, I highly recommend this book. I've read other accounts of the Financial Collapse of 2008 that left me scratching my head, but Ms. Tavakoli has a fluid and accessible writing style that allows the reader to understand what happened, why it happened and how it is likely to happen again. This book is enraging since it clearly demonstrates how a bunch of pompous sociopaths managed to privatize rewards and socialize risk in the banking sector, while producing nothing of value to the public at large. The executives at Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan Chase and the other Too Big To Fail institutions should be rotting in prison for their crimes, but instead are protected by a political and regulatory system that is bought and paid for by their political contributions. It's a shame that the American Taxpayers are too stupid to force these criminals to be subject to justice for their crimes.
    17 people found this helpful
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  • Andrea M. Psoras
    4.0 out of 5 stars Psoras reviewing Decisions- general review on good book, not too different than Smedley Butler's 'War is a Racket'
    Reviewed in the United States on August 14, 2016
    Verified Purchase
    as of this read....this is a very good, interesting book. Actually she worked within. without exposing the grossbanken and their part in the 'reunification' and eventually the takeover of germany and most of the continent. low pressure way to cover up for germany taking pver the EU
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  • optionguy
    3.0 out of 5 stars This is a perfect example of how personal opinion and sympathy can paint ...
    Reviewed in the United States on August 9, 2015
    Verified Purchase
    This is a perfect example of how personal opinion and sympathy can paint a very different picture of events. Janet paints a very sympathetic view of one character (BB).

    I worked with him and have first hand experience that he was the prime mover behind Merrill Lynches' Orange County scandal yet he acted as whistle blower a few years later onthe topic. Over a decade later he had by definition to know about Deutschebank's Libor manipulation. He was rejected by the German Regulators as DB's CRO for a reason (and not the official ones).

    Still well written, but not definitive.
    2 people found this helpful
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  • Alex Ponce
    5.0 out of 5 stars Do yourself a favor...Buy this book.
    Reviewed in the United States on July 11, 2015
    Verified Purchase
    This book is short and easy to understand. I like that style of writing. If you want to understand what really happened during the 2008/2009 collapse of the economy, and how they are setting us up for another collapse in the near future, then, you should read this book.
    Our society spends most of the time preoccupied with nonsense news, pointless celebrities and gossip. In the meantime, bankers and politicians are setting us up, and robbing us blind. They are demonstrating how fool we are and how they keep stealing our money and we let them get away with it. It discuss me the arrogance and clear disregard for ethics and common decency.
    This book is for the average person that wants to see through the veil of fanancial jargon and complicated transactions. She explains it in a way anybody can understand it. That's the magic of this book.
    6 people found this helpful
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  • David Mac
    2.0 out of 5 stars Plenty of Puffery
    Reviewed in the United States on May 4, 2017
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    I didn't get far with this I am afraid. Taking too long to get to the nitty gritty. Much of the early stages really irrelevant and tended to be self centred. I may be being harsh but compared to recent books I have read on this subject this just didn't cut it for me. Not saying it will be the same for others,
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  • Jamie M. Schmidt
    5.0 out of 5 stars Brief, Succinct, and Accessible to the Casual Business Reader
    Reviewed in the United States on June 12, 2015
    Verified Purchase
    Like all of Ms. Tavakoli's writings, this little nugget pulls no punches and cuts straight to the chase. However, this volume is different from Ms. Tavakoli's other writings (e.g., "Structured Finance and Collateralized Debt Obligations" or "The New Robber Barons") in that it sticks to the big picture, is brief, and contains a significant human element. These traits are important because it makes Ms. Tavakoli's writings and poignant analysis of the financial crisis and its aftermath accessible to a broader spectrum of business readers. You probably need a cursory understanding of derivatives and the financial crisis to make this book a quick read, but you definitely don't need any specialized knowledge of arcane derivatives concepts or finance.

    In short, this book is nearly a decade of Ms. Tavakoli's writings and insight distilled to its key points and compacted into less than 100 pages.
    13 people found this helpful
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  • Kindle Customer
    4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting but hard to follow
    Reviewed in the United States on January 5, 2017
    Verified Purchase
    Interesting read. However, for someone who is not that familiar with the world and lingo of finance it is a bit hard to follow. I feel you are expected to know what derivatives and CDOs are before you begin, which I do not.
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  • CpClHb DaD
    3.0 out of 5 stars Good points, but opinionated
    Reviewed in the United States on May 14, 2018
    It’s hard to find a book that puts facts in to play regarding the financial crisis.

    There were some facts in this book but a lot of it was opinions from our author and not always based in fact.

    It was still a thorough account from her perspective what the financial crisis was. I find it good to gather perspective from all angles as well.
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Top reviews from other countries

  • weir jan
    5.0 out of 5 stars An account of how is the financial industry actually works by an insider
    Reviewed in Canada on December 26, 2022
    Verified Purchase
    Tavakoli is a rare financial professional was a moral compass. She explains how Wall Street fooled most economists and financial journalist about what it did to cause the 2008 meltdown so that the reforms were ineffective except to save Wall Street and permit it to continue it's extractive, risky, and fraudulent behavior.
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  • IPR
    5.0 out of 5 stars Gripping from the start.
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 19, 2015
    Verified Purchase
    In all honesty I purchased this book while in the throes of writing a book to submit to the Kindle Singles program. The last few weeks I've been head-down in writing, but when not head-down I've been researching everything I can about Kindle Singles and ordering eBooks like they're going out of virtual print.

    Decisions: Life and Death on Wall Street is about the 50th Kindle Single I've purchased in the last week, for 'research' purposes. It's also the most enthralling. I saw the prior review which says it leaves an all-pervading sense of pessimism and I don't agree. Maybe that's the gloomster in me, but 'whatever', Janet M. Tavakoli's writing style is addictive and--without wishing to give away any incidents in the book, as I hate that myself--it was a 'no brainer' that I had to tap on the 'Buy With One Click' button. I'd read the first few pages and not knowing what came next would have kept me sleepless otherwise.

    This is a fascinating insight into a world we can usually only imagine. The good part is that it was exactly as I'd envisaged. The bad part is that it was exactly as I'd envisaged, too. One crazy f***ed-up world, and in the middle of it a woman with balls, who's already escaped one oppressive society only to land in the middle of oppression of a different sort.

    The tone of this boo--and how the author wins through, yet in an under-stated way--reminds me of another favourite that isn't a Kindle Single: Neryl Joyce's Mercenary Mum.

    Both books have a strong female pitting her wits against a male-dominated colleague group and showing herself to be a winner. Whether the guys agree? Well that's another matter but who cares. Nobody can say this isn't a first-rate page-turner of a book. My only regret was that it ended all too soon; if I can achieve anything like this with my own book, I'll be happy. Good job, Janet.
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  • partha
    5.0 out of 5 stars great writing
    Reviewed in India on October 31, 2015
    Verified Purchase
    Janet M Tavakoli is a great eye opener. The book shows how money can make people go crazy and do something which affects a lot of people.
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  • Liem
    5.0 out of 5 stars Great book giving insight into the financial collapse of 2008
    Reviewed in Canada on December 2, 2016
    Verified Purchase
    It's clear that the author has substantial financial knowledge and experiences in understanding how the current financial system operate. I thoroughly enjoyed her direct views and comments of the actions of individuals that ran the financial system.
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