A rundown of financial crisis tell-all authors—and their blame-fobbing ways

Author

George W. Bush

Former gig

President of the United States of America

Magnum Opus

Decision Points

Whipping boys

"I assumed any major credit troubles would have been flagged by the regulators or rating agencies"

Stirring confession

"Many new products were so complex that even their creators didn't fully understand them....We were blindsided by a financial crisis that had been more than a decade in the making"

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Author

Randall Lane

Former gig

Editor-in-chief of Trader Monthly and Dealmaker

Magnum Opus

The Zeroes

Whipping boys

Bankers, the government, his readers

Stirring confession

"The kind of greedfest that comes along only once every thousand years"

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Author

Thomas Russo

Former gig

Lehman Brothers vice-chairman and chief legal officer

Magnum Opus

The 2008 Financial Crisis and Its Aftermath (co-author, Aaron J. Katzel)

Whipping boys

Overleveraged individuals, overeager lenders, government regulators, rating agencies

Stirring confession

"Individual borrowers cannot escape responsibility, of course"

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Author

Henry Paulson

Former gig

Treasury Secretary

Magnum Opus

On the Brink

Whipping boys

Senate Republicans, particularly Richard C. Shelby

Stirring confession

"I'm not sure [Palin] grasped the full dimensions of the situation I had sketched out"