| | 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 |