How the financial system undermined social ideals, damaged trust in the markets, robbed investors of trillions--and what to do about it.

There is no one better qualified to tell us about the failures of the American financial system and the grotesque abuses that have taken place in recent years than John C. Bogle, founder and former chief executive of the Vanguard mutual fund group. This legendary mutual fund pioneer has witnessed firsthand the innermost workings of the financial industry for more than fifty years and has set the standards for sound investment strategies and stewardship. Bogle's prudent advocacy of the rights of individual investors began with his 1951 Princeton University thesis on the fund industry, and he continues to champion the restoration of integrity in industry practices today. An astute observer, he knows that a trustworthy business and financial complex is essential to America's continuing leadership in the world and to economic and social progress at home. This audiobook tells much more than the story about what went wrong. More important, it tells why we lost our way and how we can right our course. The specific reforms Bogle advances in this program are practical and essential, his recommendations for assuring that investors receive their fair share of financial market returns.

In 1974, John Bogle founded Vanguard as a unique mutual mutual fund company owned by its shareholders. As the firm's chief executive for more than two decades, Bogle developed industry-changing innovations--including the world's first index mutual funds--that have given investors the ability to participate in the market at exceptionally low cost. Bogle remains the authoritative voice that speaks out against the overreaching of the financial establishment. He has been named one of Time magazine's "100 most powerful and influential people in the world" and one of Fortune magazine's four investment giants of the twentieth century. In this, his definitive work, he clearly states what must change to reestablish trust in our financial system, protect the interests of investors, and propel our nation forward.