|
I will say that some of the numbers he gives are absolutely astonishing. I would recommend this book to those interested in understanding the background of the current economic climate. I think many of the reviews here have done an excellent job of giving the interested readers a good overview of the subject matter in the book as well as some thoughtful insight into the author's background. It is scary to think what the future may hold for the US and its burgeoning debt. For the average layman (such as myself) this book can be a difficult read, but I guarantee that if you stick with it you will be rewarded with some priceless gems of knowledge that most Americans are completely unaware. So I will not attempt to give a summary but just my personal opinion of the book.I do not have a strong background in finance or history so at times the book's subject matter was hard to grasp, but thankfully the author has obvious theses to every chapter and hits on the main themes of his book several times. I really enjoyed the chapters on finance, bullnomics, securitization, and oil.
J.M. Two years ago I read the original printing and said, "We are doomed." I search this update in hope that I was wrong. The reason Bad Money had to be updated is because Phillips' work is so prophetic and so seminal all his 2008-09 readers watched its analysis and predictions come faultlessly true for two years, and we want to know what's happening tomorrow. He correctly analyzed it as a "mercantilist joint venture with the US government." He correctly layed out our economic future in 2006, and it all came to pass. Then, we shall surely crash thereafter due to this 20 year con game and gutless political inability to extract ourselves from control of the damaging sectors: financial, oil and war-making. All that's left is to discover how China will take over the world economy in the next forty years. Washington plays rhetorical games with Adam Smith vs.
Then, all we get from Democrats is wallpapered re-regulation of the financial sector that leaves the same bad apples and spoofed theories in control such that we might make money the old way for three more years. Washington cannot fix what they pretend doesn't exist, and all we get from Republicans in pandering about how far right of laissez faire we should direct our broken economy.
Now, America ignores Kevin Phillips at its peril. John Birch--blind to historical, global, economic reality.
He totally got it right that Washington "banked on" financialization as the economic sector to carry the US through globalization. Keynes vs.
We are double-doomed. Many saved fortunes and made big money in bad times because they read Kevin Phillips in 2006.
Phillips lays out several roads, and they all go through Peking.
I would recommend this book to those who want a background on the how finance become more important than manufacturing in this country, which is a very bad occurrence. Kevin Phillips has made some brilliant predictions in his long career and and like all prognosticators,some bad ones. Marketing Me Book: How to keep your job in any economy A more up to date reading is Inside The Great American Bubble Machine by Matt Taibbi at Rolling Stone. In this tome, he hits the target by clearly showing the growth and eventual overwhelming influence and control Wall Street has on the Congress. While this book was out before the death of Lehman Brothers, he predicted the scenario of an over leveraged market and how taxpayers would be expected to bail the crooks out.
The author was non partisan and objective, not placing blame on just one group or party. It was very informative.
Suffice it to say that risk-taking does not involve work and effort. The author fails to mention the socio-economic effects of labor unions, excessive and progressive taxation on productive people, excessive government regulations, and restrictive environmental laws. I was particularly amused that he considers capital gains, dividends, rental income, and common interest as "unearned income". Mr. I have now read the author , Kevin Phillips' books : Wealth and Democracy, American Dynasty :The Bush Family, Bad Money, and finally, The Politics of Rich and Poor.I would be interested in learning more about Mr Phillips' experience as a GOP strategist underPresident Nixon's administration.
Implications that the poor deserve more government support, merely by virtue that they are poor, do not ring true and seem unsupported throughout Mr Phillips' text. Nevertheless, Capitalists can only grow types of business that the political and economic climate of the country permit. Phillip's criticism of 'Paper Entrepreneurialism' is spot on.However, his expose could use a more balanced posture other than it's constant left-leaning stance. Mr Phillips is too well informed not to include this aspect of the crises and must, in my opinion, be in denial.Granted that the Rich do not excrete marble. I thought this was his insight until I noticed that he credited it to another author in his book, Politics of Rich and Poor. Formerly, Fannie and Freddie only accepted prime mortgage loans. Unearned Income is a tax credit and subsidy for those who do not have income.I consider his comparison of 17th century Spanish, 18th century Dutch, 19th century British, and 20th century American economics to be brilliant in scope. Upon examination, one finds that this particular act mandated that GSE's Fannie-Mae and Freddie Mac's loan portfolios include a substantial percentage sub-prime mortgages.
Mr Phillips' prose bashes Republican values and free market enterprise from beginning to end. In his book, Bad Money, he blames the private sector for the entire sub-prime crises but makes no mention of the Congressional and Senate Finance committee's role in passing and enhancing the Community Re-Investment Act. Margaret Thatcher has been quoted as reminding us that, Socialism fails when the last of other people's money has been spent. My definition of 'unearned income' is synonymous with the IRS's definition. However, he does expound well on this theme of economic demise.
|
