The Road to Financial Reformation: Warnings, Consequences, Reforms

Our financial crisis: what happened, how we got here, and what needs to be done

Henry Kaufman-an esteemed economist and statesman-is one of the most preeminent financial figures of the day, with a history of success from the 1980s, when his firm, Salomon Brothers, ruled the bond markets.

In The Road to Financial Reformation, Dr. Kaufman, who has spent a lifetime entrenched in the world of finance, provides an insightful account of the history and impact of post-World War II financial markets on the economy-what happened, how we got to where we are today, and what needs to be done. Drawing on his vast breadth of knowledge and experience, Kaufman reveals the mistakes that got us into this debacle, the consequences-as they have not been fully realized-and how to put our derailed economy back on track. This book details Dr. Kaufman's warnings and concerns expressed repeatedly throughout the last quarter century, and shows that what he predicted came to pass.

• Provides an insightful account of the history and impact of post-World War II financial markets on the economy
• Explores the erosion of credit ratings on corporate debt in the late 1980s and the rapid increase in financial concentration of institutions
• Discusses the blinding faith in models that rely on historical data but fail to take into account economic and financial market structural changes

With his breadth of knowledge and experience, Kaufman details that this crisis was foreseeable (he saw it coming), and how we created this history-making financial crisis. He also explains the consequences still to come, and presents solutions on how we can recover and reform the markets.

Henry Kaufman, PhD, has been President of Henry Kaufman & Company Inc., an investment management and economic and financial consulting firm, since April 1988. For twenty-six years, Kaufman was with Salomon Brothers Inc., where he served as a managing director, vice chairman, and member of the executive committee, and was in charge of Salomon's four research departments. He currently is a trustee at New York University; Chairman Emeritus of the Board of Overseers at the NYU Stern School of Business; Chairman Emeritus of the Institute of International Education; and trustee of the Norton Museum. Kaufman is author of On Money and Markets and Interest Rates, the Markets, and the New Financial World, and a regular contributor to the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and Financial Times (London). He received a BA in economics from New York University, an MS in finance from Columbia University, a PhD in banking and finance from the New York University Graduate School of Business Administration, and was awarded honorary doctorates from NYU, Yeshiva University, and Trinity College.