The Number: How America's Balance Sheet Lies Rocked the World's Financial Markets - Tapa blanda

"Alex Berenson, a whip-smart "New York Times" business reporter, is [a] wisecracking play-by-play commentator. In The Number, he offers a compelling account of how many large-number corporations went astray in the late 1990s. . . . Berenson knows this material cold, and he has a way with a phrase." --"The Washington Post" "Berenson's book is about far more than one financial concept or dictionary definition. It is a well-written, informative, fact-filled review of how we got into this mess. More, it's the sort of book those of us who plan to be around the financial-services industry for a long time can take down from our bookshelves years from now, during the next bubble, and say to the younger folks, 'Let me tell you something, this has happened before.'" --"The Mercury News" "If you're still trying to get a handle on what happened in the stock market for the last five years, [The Number] serves as a concise and readablecrash course." --"The New York Times Book Review" "Alex Berenson, a whip-smart "New York Times business reporter, is [a] wisecracking play-by-play commentator. In The Number, he offers a compelling account of how many large-number corporations went astray in the late 1990s. . . . Berenson knows this material cold, and he has a way with a phrase." --"The Washington Post "Berenson's book is about far more than one financial concept or dictionary definition. It is a well-written, informative, fact-filled review of how we got into this mess. More, it's the sort of book those of us who plan to be around the financial-services industry for a long time can take down from our bookshelves years from now, during the next bubble, and say to the younger folks, 'Let me tell you something, this has happened before.'" --"The Mercury News "If you're still trying to get a handle on what happened in the stock market for the last five years, [The Number] serves as a concise and readablecrash course." --"The New York Times Book Review

To financial analysts and investors, it is the earnings per share figure or 'the number' which is the most important sign of a company's health and future prospects. To chief executives whose colossal bonus packages are increasingly linked to 'the number' it is even more important that it doesn't fall short. Not surprisingly the temptation to 'massage' this number by booking non-existent sales or hiding capital expenses proved too much for some, even though their deception amounted to theft on a massive scale from shareholders and their employees. Part detective story, part financial history, THE NUMBER gives an insider's account of the balance-sheet lies which have so tarnished the reputation of Corporate America, as well as a comprehensive overview of how Wall Street and Big Business lost their way during the long bull market that began in 1982.