Too Big to Fail: The Inside Story of How Wall Street and Washington Fought to Save the Financial System from Crisis — and Themselves

by Andrew Ross Sorkin

Paulson was worried not just about Lehman; he knew Merill too was awash in bad assets, and mentioned the challenges that Merrill’s new CEO, John Thain (who had been Paulson’s number two at Goldman), was facing with his own balance sheet. But leverage and Merrill’s problems