Griftopia

Rolling Stone contributing editor Taibbi (The Great Derangement: A Terrifying True Story of War, Politics, and Religion) lucidly deconstructs the high-finance shenanigans of Wall Street and political power brokers that have fleeced the U.S. economy to the tune of billions of dollars. The outrageous, unchecked greed and power of financial industry behemoths like Goldman Sachs (the "Vampire Squid" of the title) and AIG are meticulously and succinctly described. The evidence of actually criminal, or at least morally criminal, financial misdeeds should spark fury in the average person, but Taibbi concedes that it is exceedingly difficult to get anyone to pay attention to the real stories behind corporate bailouts, the mortgage scam, lax financial regulation, and health-care reform as well as those who stand to profit at the expense of the rest of us by exploiting the industry to their advantage.