| Foreword | p. xiii |
| Acknowledgments | p. xvii |
| Introduction Bailout Nation | p. 1 |
| A Brief History Of Bailouts | p. 7 |
| A Brief History of Bailouts | p. 9 |
| The Creation of the Federal Reserve, and Its Role in Creating Our Bailout Nation | p. 13 |
| Pre-Bailout Nation (1860-1942) | p. 21 |
| Industrial-Era Bailouts (1971-1995) | p. 33 |
| Intermezzo A Pattern Emerges | p. 45 |
| The Modern Era Of Bailouts | p. 51 |
| Stock Market Bailouts (1987-1995) | p. 53 |
| The Irrational Exuberance Era (1996-1999) | p. 63 |
| The Tech Wreck (2000-2003) | p. 75 |
| The Backwards, Rate-Driven Economy | p. 89 |
| Intermezzo A Brief History of Finance and Credit | p. 101 |
| The Mad Scramble for Yield | p. 105 |
| Market Failure | p. 117 |
| The Machinery of Subprime | p. 119 |
| Intermezzo A Memo Found in the Street: Uncle Sam the Enabler | p. 130 |
| Radical Deregulation, Nonfeasance | p. 133 |
| Strange Connections, Unintended Consequences | p. 149 |
| Moral Hazard: Why Bailouts Cause Future Problems | p. 161 |
| Bailout Nation | p. 173 |
| 2008: Suicide by Democracy | p. 175 |
| The Fall of Bear Stearns | p. 185 |
| Dot-Com Penis Envy | p. 195 |
| Year of the Bailout, Part I: The Notorious AIG | p. 203 |
| The Year of the Bailout, Part II: Too Big to Succeed? | p. 211 |
| Intermezzo Idiots Fiddle While Rome Burns | p. 226 |
| Post-Bailout Nation | p. 229 |
| Casting Blame | p. 231 |
| Misplaced Fault | p. 251 |
| The Virtues of Foreclosure | p. 263 |
| Casino Capitalism | p. 273 |
| Postscript Advice to a New President | p. 287 |
| Notes | p. 297 |
| Index | p. 315 |