Philip Wallach chronicles and examines the legal and political controversies surrounding the government's responses to the recent financial crisis. The economic devastation left behind is well known, but some allege that even more lasting harm was inflicted on America's rule of law tradition and government legitimacy by the ambitious attempts to limit the fallout. In probing these claims, Wallach offers a searching inquiry into the meaning of the rule of law during crises.
Philip Wallach is a fellow in Governance Studies at the Brookings Institution, where he studies topics at the intersection of law, politics, and policy. His work has been published in a variety of scholarly and policy outlets, including Studies in American Political Development and National Affairs.
Introduction: A concise preview of the book's arguments. 1. The Rule of Law and Legitimacy 2. Historical Precedents 3. Improvisation in 2008 4. The Broad TARP 5. Continuity under New Leadership: Crisis Policies under Obama 6. Oversight and Revision 7. Taking Stock and Looking Forward
To the Edge is a superb, even riveting, delineation of the extent to which responses to the financial crisis of 2008 tested basic notions of "Rule of Law" (or adherence to any predictable rules) during a time of perceived emergency. Quoting Senator Charles Schumer, "You don't quibble about details," including legal niceties, if the world economy is believed to be in the balance. This book raises fundamental questions about decision making by modern state officials. It should interest everyone interested in how modern government does (or should) confront the various emergencies that are increasingly a constant of our political lives."- Sanford Levinson, University of Texas Law School, author of Framed: America's 51 Constitutions and the Crisis of Governance; "The financial crisis of 2008 was also a crisis of law and a crisis of government legitimacy. To the Edge plumbs all three in its revealing examination of the Bush and Obama administrations' "adhocracy" of 2008-10. Wallach shows that, in times of crisis, legality and legitimacy are distinct problems and often pull in opposite directions, that they remain problems when the immediate crisis has passed, and that the time to secure them for the next crisis is now. A learned, independent-minded, and deeply impressive debut."- Christopher DeMuth Sr., Hudson Institute; "A deeply researched book that brings a fascinating new perspective to our understanding of the financial crisis. It has often been said that while policymakers saved the economy in 2008-09, they lost the American public. To the Edge goes a long way to answering why. Completely absorbing.-Liaquat Ahamed, Pulitzer Prize winning author of Lords of Finance: The Bankers Who Broke the World; Why did America respond to its recent financial crisis the way it did? And why did the bailouts so quickly become unpopular, even as the economy was recovering? How much did the law stop the government from doing more? Philip Wallach's To the Edge is the very best book on all of these questions."- Tyler Cowen, George Mason University and MarginalRevolution.com
