PositiveReutersReaders of Borrowed Time can play an amusing parlor game identifying the most misguided of those who led Citi in its problematic second century ... The authors describe in detail Citi’s successful attempt to re-integrate commercial and investment banking with its Salomon Brothers merger in 1998, followed 10 years later by the collapse of its balance sheet once again, this time with problems appearing in domestic mortgages, investment-banking products and international banking ... Freeman and McKinley strongly suggest Citi should not have been bailed out, but do not address how another bank failure in 2008 even larger than that of Lehman Brothers would have bolstered global investor confidence. However, a third alternative to Lehman-style bankruptcy existed: the nationalization of the bank, with shareholders being wiped out, followed by rapid liquidation and asset sales, while paying creditors in full. That rough justice might have restored more confidence in the U.S. financial system than a government bailout ... Borrowed Time argues that Citi—having been left mostly intact after 2008—will be at the heart of whatever future financial crisis awaits. History makes that a good bet.
