Review of The United States since 1980 (The World Since 1980) (Hardcover)

This book isn't what I expected.I wanted more facts and information on how the middle class has lost ground since 1980.This book is a good overview of government policy for the past twenty five years.You walk away from this book with a good overview of history.I'm going to have to dig a little deeper for the actual data that this book was based upon.
I'm a huge Dean Baker fan.Most economists are slaves to their perspectives.It's really hard to get good economic and fiscal views outside the corporate American view.Baker allows us to be free.
Baker predicts a recession this year because of the housing bubble.Lets see how accurate he is.I'm betting on Baker.Don't bank on the Wall Street guys, they seem more interested in protecting their clients than getting you truth.



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Review of It Could Happen Here: America on the Brink (Hardcover)

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Glens True Story Blog: The lie that is Capitalism

I think it's important to establish first that I am a Conservative Christian Republican although some of my views here are contrary to my party's ideology. I do although support true capitalism, but true capitalism in America does not exist and we need to take drastic measures to realign the country with the dream our founding fathers had.

I grew up with a great respect for free markets and this notion of Laissez-Faire economics. I was a product of Corporate America and truly believed that we are the America we are because of these principles. Oh how sadly I have been misled. First lets address the context to which Adam Smith described "the invisible hand" and Laissez-Faire Economics. If you do not know the term Laissez-Faire its literal translation is "let the business alone," a philosophy that free markets will always regulate themselves. While this is a brilliant concept it has been grossly distorted through the eyes of Corporate America. Regan's trickle down economics started a landslide of Corporate Power and I would have to argue that Corporate America has become a Monarch, reigning over all the power and all the money, making it harder and harder for middle class Americans to voice their hopes and dreams.

When Smith coined this concept it was in direct relationship to local business, that a localized community would regulate supply and demand. Unfortunately it has been the catalyst of income concentration to a minute percentage of the US population, and many middle class Americans do not understand the concepts they so rigidly fight to uphold, myself formally one of them. Bruce Judson does a phenomenal job at walking you through history in his book titled "It can happen here, America on the Brink." A society can not sustain without a middle class, and we have allowed the weakening of Unions, and the creation of a greed machine called Wall St. to erode this middle class.

Wall St. operates on one factor, profit at all costs, CEO's being rewarded for layoffs and cost cutting as long as profit was achieved. An obscene example of this was something that I previously supported. I, as did many, said that the AIG bonuses were guaranteed to the AIG executives, and that in the name of capitalism and free markets the government should not take away their bonuses. What a naïve thought! Had the government not bailed out these banks would they have still received their bonuses? Possibly from the bankruptcy judge but even that is debatable. Wall St. has been rewarded for helping destroy the economy of our country. I helped and so did you, were we rewarded? While I do now support the stimulus ( I didn't prior to understanding our history and where we are as a country), I think that we need heavy government regulation on the banking sector. We need to ensure that people, not profit, are considered when making crucial decisions concerning corporations.
I believe that federal government involvement should be minimal in a healthy society, with laws set up to protect its people and not their bank accounts.

The key word is healthy, America is by no means healthy, we have four out of five factors present prior to every major revolution in history (Judson 2009). The free markets have failed and now if we do not realize the necessity of government intervention, we set our president up to fail and in turn our country. A month ago I would have debated FDR's role in history, but after hours of reading and research I think he was one of the greatest leaders we have had. He was a true leader, not afraid to say he didn't have all the answers.

Americans are looking for a quick fix and that does not exist. If anyone tells you they have the answer they are either lying or mis-informed. I wish our president would step up to the plate and let everyone know that its going to be a rough road ahead. Stop telling us jobs will improve in 3-6 months when all economic indicators point the other way, and tell us he doesn't have all the answers. Tell us he will work to restore the middle class at the expense of corporate America and I will stand up and support his decisions.



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Review of A Failure of Capitalism: The Crisis of '08 and the Descent into Depression (Hardcover)

This is the fifth book by Richard Posner (law professor at the University of Chicago and a long-time judge on the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals) that I've read, in addition to many legal opinions.There is no question that he's brilliant and an excellent, clear, and precise writer.There is also no question about his credentials as a libertarian-leaning conservative.

Until now, that is."A Failure of Capitalism" departs consciously from the prevailing libertarian take on the current recession (or, as Judge Posner argues it should be called, "depression").In short, he believes that the depression was not mainly caused by government meddling.Rather, it is a "market failure" -- i.e., a crisis that market forces alone could not have prevented.And, given the size of this market failure, government should instead have used regulations to prevent it.

Before I got the book, I had read some indications that Judge Posner was taking this line.But in the book itself, he is crystal clear about his view that deregulation in the financial industry was a major culprit, and his recognition that he is going against the conventional wisdom of both libertarians and conservatives.

The book is well argued and much more thorough than I can convey here.One of the great things about Judge Posner's style is that he anticipates all of the reader's objections and tries to address them in good faith.Whether you agree or disagree, he is always worth reading.

The book also includes a narrative of how the depression developed, descriptions of the systemic problems in the financial industry that made the depression possible, and recommendations for government action.

Although the material may be a little difficult for those with no knowledge of finance, it has been intentionally written with non-specialists in mind.As always, Judge Posner repays the attentive reader.



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