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Zusatztext Bair is to be praised for her attempt at breaking down complex economic information to a middle- and high-school level of understanding. Informationen zum Autor Sheila Bair is the former Chairman of the FDIC (Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation). She has been covered-and lauded-everywhere from The New Yorker to The Washington Post to The Wall Street Journal, and in 2008 and 2009 Forbes named her the second-most powerful woman in the world. Prior to assuming her post at the FDIC, Bair served as assistant secretary for financial institutions at the US Department of the Treasury and as senior vice president for government relations of the New York Stock Exchange. Klappentext Subtitle in pre-publication: This is how greedy adults messed up our economy.The Bullies of Wall Street CHAPTER 1 MATT Matt felt puffs of warm, wet air hitting his cheek. He opened his eyes and saw the source: a large, shiny black nose just a few inches from his face. Two wide-set brown eyes stared at him intently. Attila had probably been awake for hours, patiently waiting for Matt to get up. Matt lobbed his arm over the old German shepherd’s neck and scratched him behind the ears. Matt’s mom usually didn’t let Attila sleep with him. But she had given in to Matt’s pleas the night before, realizing that it would be the last he would share with his dog. Matt had never known a day without Attila. His parents had adopted him from a dog shelter twelve years ago, just a few months before Matt was born. He was a big puppy, with huge paws, which was why Matt’s dad, a history teacher, decided to name him after Attila the Hun, the ferocious fifth-century warrior who had conquered much of Europe. Attila eventually grew into his paws, weighing over a hundred pounds, big for a German shepherd. His size was now a problem, as Matt’s parents couldn’t find a place for them to live that would take a dog of his size. The family was moving soon, and all of the apartments they had looked at either prohibited pets or allowed only small ones. Matt didn’t want to get up. He wanted to lie there forever with his dog, thinking back over all of the good years they had spent together. Attila used to be the fastest and smartest dog of any in his neighborhood, making Matt the envy of every kid on his block. His friends would come to his house and beg for the privilege of throwing sticks for Attila to fetch and watching him perform tricks. The usual “sit,” “beg,” and “roll over” commands were nothing for Attila. He could climb the ladder of Matt’s backyard playground set and slide down the slide. He could jump through a hoola hoop and catch Frisbees six feet in the air. He could play tug-of-war with four kids on the other side of the rope, and still win. He didn’t just shake. He high-fived. But that was when Attila was younger. Attila walked slowly now, suffering from arthritis in his hips, which Dad said was common in shepherds. His hearing was almost gone too, so he could no longer always hear Matt’s commands. Matt started to sob softly, and then came an all-out bawl. He gathered up the old dog’s coarse, dry fur in his fist and squeezed. Attila belly-crawled closer to him to lick the salty tears from his cheeks. Who would adopt this old dog, who only had a few years left? Who would take in this deaf fellow, who sometimes had accidents in the house and needed help going up and down the stairs? Matt’s parents had assured him that the shelter would find a good home for Attila. But Matt had read in the newspaper that lots of families like his were losing their homes and having to give up their pets. The shelters had too many dogs for adoption already. After a time, when they ran out of room, they had to put some “to sleep,” which was a nice...
