James Stewart - Den of Thieves book review

In a nutshell (592 pages) Den of Thieves is a full recounting of the stock market insider trading, fraud and abuse of trust in the ’80s. The story is incredibly well researched. Pretty much all of the wild stories are easily verifiable, which is a good thing because the story seems out of this world.

What I got out of it

Asides from entertainment, this story goes to show that the sort of behaviour that critics of capitalism claim cannot work in the long term. Yes, in the short term, people can abuse power and get massively rich. But in the end, the more the abuse, the more likely the fall.

What was difficult

Although the government does get its pound of flesh, the author does not hide the failure of the laws as they were, and the job of the government to apply them. Stewart does a great job of asking the question of whether or not the criminals did pay the price for their crimes. With no clear answer. Maybe they simply get a slap on the wrist relative to the money they walked away with.

Recommendation

If the world of Wall Street and stock trading intrigues you, then read this book. If you’re either of the opinion that markets should be unregulated or that markets should be shut down, then definitely read this book. Both extreme views will be better for it. If the book is of passing interest, then I would recommend you take a pass because it is a long book and the volume of crimes and the ridiculousness of some people will probably be tiring.