Book Description
John Perkins's sensational New York Times bestseller Confessions of an Economic Hit Man (more than 300,000 sold) revealed just the tip of the iceberg of the secret world of economic hit men and the web of global corruption. Now more economic hit men and investigators tell the whole shocking story.
Customer Reviews:
Good reference book for "Confessions of an Economic Hit Man".......2007-10-08
This book completely documents how large multinational corporations together with the IMF, The World Bank, and the various "free trade" organizations, as well rule the world and effectively rob from the poor and middle class and increase the wealth of the already wealthy.
It dramatically underscores the fact that if we don't act, and act now, we will be facing a world of new "serfdom", if the world isn't destroyed altogether by the greed and connivery of the world's rich.
This book is a good read, but tends to be a bit dry for the average person. One would be better off tackling books such as John Perkins "Confessions of an Enonomic Hit Man" and "The Secret History of the American Empire" as well as John Howard Kunzler's "The Long Energency" before tackling this book.
A Context the Opposite of What We're Told .......2007-08-17
As an ex-international banker who quit banking for the same reasons John Perkins quit being an Economic Hit Man, I can vouch for the truth of every essay in this fine book. The underlying truth is: the world is increasingly run by the corporatocracy, and it has negligible concern for either the poor countries it purports to help nor the environment in which it functions. The truth is the opposite of what we would like and pretend to be true. And the corporatocracy doesn't just behave as it does in foreign, underdeveloped countries, it behaves the exact same way here at home. The mortgage scandle is the same kind of hustle - selling bad debt to unsophisticated borrowers and investors. The only difference is that the poor people who default on their mortgages don't have natural resources the lenders can now take. Fascism redux.
This is a brilliant book. One can already see how the corporatocracy is ignoring it. It will be interesting to see how it plays out.
The Dark Underbelly of International Economics.......2007-06-27
In CONFESSIONS OF AN ECONOMIC HIT MAN, John Perkins outlined his 20-year career as agent of the government and multinational corporations as they attempted to (and succeeded in) exploiting lesser-developed countries. That book, published by Berrett-Koehler in 2004, painted a rather gloomy picture of the dark side of globalization - in theory, a worthy endeavor.
A GAME AS OLD AS EMPIRE, edited by Steven Hiatt with an introduction by Mr. Perkins, continues the story of this exploitation, abuse, and waste in the name of "globalization." Let me say - as an aside - that I remain a proponent of globalization within the context of responsible stewardship. Removing barriers to trade, offering educational, vocational, and economic opportunities to men and women of all nations, is a good thing. Done properly, economic development and stewardship offers the possibility of true societal progress, ennobling humanity, enriching lives, nurturing the environment and increasing business activity and profits.
Unfortunately, the reality is far different from the ideal. The shortsightedness and greed of political and leaders - focused only on personal enrichment or the next quarter's operating results - leads to a culture of global exploitation. The pattern is familiar: special interests descend like locusts, consume everything in their path, and then move on, leaving a wake of destruction, degradation, and despair.
The book presents a compelling exploration of these economic and human abuses through other voices, most of those voices from men and women that participated for a time in the dance of exploitation for their temporal masters. The individual essays focus on a number of issues ranging from the stranglehold of foreign debt, the culture of ineptitude and corruption in many aspects of international banking, and the unconscionable extraction of natural resources (as in the Congo) at the high cost of human life and economic prosperity.
A GAME AS OLD AS EMPIRE is expectedly one-sided in that it shows only the abuse and corruption of international economics. There are many businesses that operate with high-principles and integrity (while maintaining high earnings for both its management as well as other constituents). However, the book serves an important purpose in that it shows that all is not sunshine and roses in the global economy. There is corruption, waste, incompetence, and short-sightedness that is unacceptable from not only a human standpoint, but from a business valuation perspective as well. I would recommend this book to anyone who seeks to undertake an intelligent study of the state of international economics in the real world.
A revealing survey.......2007-05-10
A GAME AS OLD AS EMPIRE: THE SECRET WORLD OF ECONOMIC HIT MEN AND THE WEB OF GLOBAL CORRUPTION comes from the author of the best-selling CONFESSIONS OF AN ECONOMIC HIT MAN and expands upon the prior book's theme. Where CONFESSIONS was fueled by the author's revelations of economic secrets, A GAME AS OLD AS EMPIRE is joined by other journalists and investigators who tell their own stories of a world-wide web of deliberate corruption, even narrowing topics down to specific countries and how they've been subverted. The result is a revealing survey which expands well upon the popular theme of CONFESSIONS and which deserves a spot in any academic or community library's business, economics, or social issues collection.
A Story that Deserves to be Told.......2007-05-08
This book should be mandatory reading for college students. Through the various essays--written by real people involved in the various aspects of modern empire--the reader gains an understanding of the real work (and damage) done by multilateral development agencies,offshore banks, and global trade organizations. If we want to build a better world and a better future for our children, it is critical we all understand how these various institutions of the global elite affect the global poor.
Book Description
A private war is being waged on city playgrounds and in high school gyms in the never-ending search for the next big player, and the potential millions in sales that player could bring to the major athletic shoe companies by endorsing their products. For every legitimate spokesman like Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant (the respective endorsers for Nike and Adidas) there are dozens of teenage kids all over North America who are lavished with brand new sneakers, expensive clothes, new athletic gear, or free trips in an attempt to gain their athletic shoe brand loyalty. And that's just where this sordid story begins.
Download Description
A private war is being waged on city playgrounds and in high school gyms in the never-ending search for the next big player--and the potential millions in sales that player could bring to the major athletic shoe companies by endorsing their products. Far from the glamour of the NBA or the NCAA Final Four, the sport has changed into a high-stakes war of greed and includes such tactics as expensive gifts, pampered perks, grade fixing, standardized-test fraud, and kickback recruitments. For every legitimate spokesman like Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant (the respective endorsers for Nike and adidas) there are dozens of teenage kids all over America who are lavished with brand new sneakers, expensive clothes, new athletic gear, or free trips (parents included) in an attempt to gain their athletic shoe brand loyalty. And that's just where this sordid story begins.
Customer Reviews:
i dont like what they say about my friend myron piggie.......2003-11-13
Hi my name is quin and I live in Missouri. I dont like what they say about myron piggie. he is a good man. otherwise the book was pretty good. i recommend it for college basketball fans.
Interesting delve into amateur athletics ..........2003-04-27
However not always balanced, SOLE is a page turner for sports fans that enjoy the stories off the playing arena.
Wetzel and Yaeger provide interesting cases and a great work of journalism, however the line between reporting and storytelling is often blurred.
The best way to enjoy this book is to come away entertained, informed, but not disillusioned.
A Classic Hoops Book!!!.......2001-06-02
Buy this book. Love it.
A great look at how the big corporate money of the shoe industry has tainted high school level and college basketball, not to mention all of those who are involved in it.
A surprising aspect of the book is the names of villians who you would not believe; Billy Packer, Dickie V, George Raveling, and Roy Williams are a few who are found "guilty" of killing the game that I love.
This book will expose you to the negative underworkings of the great game of college basketball.
It explores the seamier side of sports........2001-02-24
I knew that high school and in some cases elementary school athletes in sports like basketball and football that are extremely gifted can get free perks, but I didn't think it would go as far as it did. The fact is there is a lot of fingerpointing at the athletes, but very little at the others involved in the game. Let's face it, no one would care about these sports if there wasn't a relatively high standard of quality players available. Everyone involved in the game makes money off the players, from the coaches,universities,athletic apparel companies,broadcasters, etcetera, you name it. It's about time that college athletes and high school athletes receive fair market value for the money they generate. The point is many schools would be probably be in a lot worse financial shape if it weren't for basketball and football. Yes, it exposes the greed behind the players, but it's human nature at work. I don't agree with the tactics employed by the agents and companies involved to get players, but I do understand the motivation for doing so. If they don't get these players, some other competing agent or company likely will get their services. It's no different than when univerisities engage in recruiting practices, and some of these universities can get put on probation for recruiting violations. All in all, this was a realistic look at what goes on in youth basketball. I enjoyed it, and would recommend it to anyone who wants to explore the dark side of amateur basketball. An excellent companion book to this would be the book Money Players, which looks at things from the NBA perspective.
Outrage, a complete lack of ethics..........2000-06-19
I've suspected for decades that the college recruiting process was (is), to a certain extent, corrupt.
To even the casual observer of college basketball, at the upper echelon of Division I, there is (has been) an uneven playing field. It's as if some colleges have had the top five picks in the annual draft for several years in a row.
On the surface the uneven playing field seems impossible to explain, but books like "Sole Influence" begin to shed light of the corruption that mars college basketball -- the search for the next Michael Jordan.
In a series of anecdotes, the authors provide case studies of how, especially, Nike and Addidas have made a mess of AAU basketball, especially in large urban centers.
It's difficult, almost impossible, to get first hand information, especially from big-name college coaches -- few go on the record. What "Sole Influence" reveals, seems to me, is the tip of the iceberg.
The most shocking revelations surround the role played by George Raveling, the former head coach at Washington State, Iowa and USC. Thankfully, Raveling made himself available to the authors and provides candid comments which, while attempting to rationalize his role in this sorry mess, tend to indict him as one of the prime offenders.
The book, although poorly edited, contains much food for thought and is worthy of reading and reflection by serious college basketball fans.
The authors include a good index, but omit footnotes and a bibliography of sources. Also, a complete list of names of persons interviewed for the book would have been appreciated. To the layman, many of these "characters" are complete strangers.
The authors have included capsule introductions to the book's key "characters," which are especially helpful for those of us unfamiliar with the shoe company corruption of AAU basketball.
I agree with those who've commented about the book's excessive repetition, as the authors do a thorough job of indicting the shoe companies.
The authors do provide some implied remedies for the problems they've documented. Whether these recommendations are feasible, given the hunger for dollars, is questionable and discouraging.
Again, this title is recommended for college basketball fans who care about the integrity of the game. The book makes me wonder to what extent college basketball has integrity.
Book Description
In The New Golden Age, bestselling author and economist Ravi Batra identifies the roadblocks to economic prosperity--and what we need to do to overcome them. Bringing the same insight and expertise that made books like The Downfall of Capitalism and Communism international bestsellers, Batra takes on falling minimum wages, corporate scandals, rocketing oil prices, and many of the other crises facing the world economy. He also offers an expansive, optimistic vision of how the international community can address them and bring about something historically unprecedented: true global economic prosperity.
Customer Reviews:
The New Golden Age.......2007-10-25
This book gave me a new perspective on world economic history along with insightful advice on what may be ahead.
The New Golden Age: The Coming Revolution against Political Corruption and Economic Chaos.......2007-08-08
An exceptional economics book that tells the truth directly and in simple and completely understandable terms. Scuttles the Media and Political hype and presents what is needful and workable toward economic democracy that is now being submerged be the Global "Free Market" lies, myths and swindles.
Should be required reading for every truly patriotic citizen.
Stays on message - still the most potent critic of Capitalism .......2007-06-16
Ravi Batra is still at it, almost three decades since he penned the classic "The Downfall of Capitalism and Communism: A New Study of History". We have come a long way with this author since then and never been bored. Batra's thesis is that we have entered the era of financial capitalism, the last stage of the Age of Acquisitors, where an increasingly uneven distribution of wealth feeds into increasing financial leverage and speculation, until the system can't handle it anymore and collapses. Following the collapse is financial destitution of many and social chaos. Such an outcome is still the most potent form of criticism of Capitalism. If Batra is at some point proved right that
a) the Great Depression of the 1930s was no fluke and
b) that innovations and safeguards to our financial system adopted since then cannot prevent another meltdown,
then that is a major an indictment of our form of social organization and, ultimately, our way of life.
At the heart of Batra's writings are the ideas of his mentor P.R. Sarkar. Batra has done more than anyone to publicize the message of this giant of modern day Indian thought in the West. This book is yet another installation into that body of work. While the message may no longer be as novel or fresh as it was in the 1980s, his work now builds on three decades of experience, including a multitude of accurate predictions (although the most important one has so far been a spectacular failure - the Great Depression of 1990!). He is now more circumspect about such things, including the adoption of a fiat monetary system in the 1970s and how monetary policy has been successfully used to forestall a major crash. In one sense he is quite correct, our monetary and financial system is an ongoing social experiment. Batra's work is, if anything, a reminder that we take a lot of things for granted. It is healthy to consider the alternatives, such as if the systemic stability were to give way to catastrophe. Central banks all over the world now devote considerable resources into researching this question and government surveillance of the financial market is now commonplace with stock markets all over the world soaring. Interestingly, all of that, albeit important, is not really the key focus of his work. As the name of his new book suggests, it is the glorious new dawn of a world based on the sentient philosophy of his mentor that is his main message.
Time will tell if Batra and the ideas he promotes are the real deal. So far, he has yet to prove the worth of these ideas with his major prediction. However, he has offered many novel insights into how modern capitalism works. For instance, in the 1980s he was one of the first to talk about how the financial sector was becoming the key to social developments in the West. Today, we take such insights for granted. Overall, the ideas he is describing are more than worthy of our careful consideration. Let us also not forget that he made a prediction in the book mentioned above in 1978 that Communism would fall. It did. As is the norm for him, the book is exceedingly well written and the message as fascinating as ever. Batra tends to be a few steps ahead of the rest of us, even if it sometimes looks as if he going down the wrong path. Even if he has made a big misstep, in my opinion, he is still headed in the right direction. The ideas are serious and profound and also filled with hope. The book is highly recommended for the intellectually curious or those scoping about for a more meaningful approach to life than what the real world has on offer in the early 21th century.
A Call to Arms!!!.......2007-03-25
In this book, Batra expains how the economic chaos and political corruption will continue to escalate and worsen over the next few years until the working class eventually rise up like warriors against the acquisitor class (capitalist - Russ Winter calls them the "pigmen") who have infiltrated all aspects of our government, the press, and our society at large. This uprising will dawn a new golden era of prosperity for the masses and the working class. A move away from "trickle down" economics where indebtedness of the masses for the fortitude of the richest has resulted in an increasingly unstable bubble-led economy with resultant record trade imbalances that leaves us (as a nation and society) in a precarious and vulnerable situation.
Book Description
A riveting exposé of international corruption—and what we can do about it, from the author of Confessions of an Economic Hit Man, which spent over a year on the New York Times bestseller list.
In his stunning memoir, Confessions of an Economic Hit Man, John Perkins detailed his former role as an “economic hit man” in the international corporate skullduggery of a de facto American Empire. This riveting, behind-the-scenes exposé unfolded like a cinematic blockbuster told through the eyes of a man who once helped shape that empire. Now, in The Secret History of the American Empire, Perkins zeroes in on hot spots around the world and, drawing on interviews with other hit men, jackals, reporters, and activists, examines the current geopolitical crisis. Instability is the norm: It's clear that the world we've created is dangerous and no longer sustainable. How did we get here? Who's responsible? What good have we done and at what cost? And what can we do to change things for the next generations? Addressing these questions and more, Perkins reveals the secret history behind the events that have created the American Empire, including:
• The current Latin-American revolution and its lessons for democracy
• How the “defeats” in Vietnam and Iraq benefited big business
• The role of Israel as “Fortress America” in the Middle East
• Tragic repercussions of the IMF's “Asian Economic Collapse”
• U.S. blunders in Tibet, Congo, Lebanon, and Venezuela
• Jackal (CIA operatives) forays to assassinate democratic presidents
From the U.S. military in Iraq to infrastructure development in Indonesia, from Peace Corps volunteers in Africa to jackals in Venezuela, Perkins exposes a conspiracy of corruption that has fueled instability and anti-Americanism around the globe. Alarming yet hopeful, this book provides a compassionate plan to reimagine our world.
Customer Reviews:
Exciting and Inspirational.......2007-10-22
After reading Perkins' first book (of this genre), I knew I HAD to read his second! Perkins takes his intrigue even further this time, as he expands tales of misdeeds in "third-world" countries, after receiving feedback from others who read CONFESSIONS OF AN ECONOMIC HIT-MAN. Not only are we following him along with enthusiasm in chapter after chapter, but finally, we are given hope at the end of the book, where he lists specific organizations we can link up with, in order to help the world situation. - Charlotte Kennedy
Not What I expected.......2007-09-25
I picked this book up expecting it to be a direct explanation of how the international monetary system works. I was greatly disappointed to find it's just a memoir of the author's experiences, with no hard facts, and innuendos about how horrible the US is, how many people paid him not to write this book, how many threats he's received, etc. The author spends extensive time talking about specific experiences with famous people, preening himself as an important person, and absolutely no time discussing hard facts. He spends an entire chapter talking about how he was offered a controlling position in an energy company.
The author has no clue what Biblical Christianity is, based on his descriptions (it's not about the "social gospel," no matter what church happens to believe that--anyone who bothers to read the actual Bible can tell you that). He praises Che, and says Che was smeared as a communist--in reality, I don't know of anyone who's bothered by Che's communism, but rather by his terrorism, and slaughtering of thousands of people for no particular reason--the very people he claimed to be "fighting for."
Overall, very short on facts, very much about "me," and very disappointing.
Read and learn about the U.S.A........2007-09-20
A vary eye opening book.
It's every caring U.S. citizens duty to read this book.
Mr Tom Clancy goes to Harvard Business School.......2007-09-12
John Perkins' The Secret History of the American Empire is not scholarly "history". History here is just the backdrop. It is the frame story for a lyrical ballad on global corporatism. Perkins commences: "More than half the world's population lives on less than two dollars a day; 24,000 people die each day through hunger and hunger-related diseases; the United States has 5% of the world's population but consumes 25% of the world's resources; the United States' military is preeminent as is the English language; the United States has controlling interest in both the World Bank (16%) and the International Monetary Fund (17%)". (In short, the United States is ideally positioned to exploit all hungering peoples and their rich resources.) Global corporatism's reliance on "jackals" (assassins) and "geishas" (professional escorts) is mentioned, also. Clearly, Perkins' "history" is the proverbial yesterday's paper. It's nothing new. What makes the book engaging, however, is the entrance into global corporatism of a young man emerging from teen angst determined to snare more women and earn more cash (by Perkins' admission) than the high school football team captain. Perkins draws you in at once:
"Confessions of an Economic Hit Man [Perkins' previous work] became my insurance policy; the jackals knew that if anything unusual happened to me, sales of the book would skyrocket" (page xv).
The book's premise mirrors the premise of numerous, far more scholarly works (eg, Ezra Pound's Cantos, and Naomi Klein's Shock Capitalism): "Most US citizens are not aware that national disasters are like wars: They are highly profitable for business" (page 48).
Global backdrop and premise aside, it is hard to tell whether the lyric personal escapades chronicled in this book are fictional. The engaging style is highly reminiscent of science fiction author Roger Zelazny. Indeed, if John Perkins eventually declares this book to be as fictional as Roger Zelazny's sci-fi classic Lord of Light it will be no surprise. For example, Perkins reports that his life of dark corporate skullduggery turned completely around after a chance meeting seated next to His Holiness the Thirteenth Dalai Lama on a 737 commercial flight:
"I made a vow right then and there that I would devote the rest of my life to turning things around" (page 65).
If not true, certainly a fine plot twist. And while it is totally believable a good heart-to-heart with His Holiness might indeed raise a dead soul ghoulishly serving global corporatism to the life more abundant - and while it would be unkind to disparage such an event and such a vow were they true - again, this reads more like good fiction than history.
A curious read.
A little to conspiracy laced for my taste but still a must read........2007-09-11
Perkins sounded a little too much like a conspiracy theorist in this book compared to his first Hitman book but it is still a must read. We all know that the majority of American's believe what they want to believe and do not care about people in the third world. I was not aware of America's history of disastrous foreign policies and was truly fascinated to here it from John Perkins's point of view. I hate how multi-national corporations profit at the expense of the environment and workers of third world nations. I am as conservative as they come, but I hate greed with a passion and even though this book is not completely free of bias it still was a utterly fascinating read.
Book Description
Corruption is a worldwide phenomenon. Developing countries and those making a transition from socialism are particularly at risk. This book suggests how high levels of corruption limit investment and growth and lead to ineffective government. Corruption creates economic inefficiencies and inequities, but reforms are possible to reduce the material benefits from payoffs. Corruption is not just an economic problem, however; it is also intertwined with politics. Reform may require changes in both constitutional structures and the underlying relationship of the market and the state. Effective reform cannot occur unless both the international community and domestic political leaders support change.
Book Description
Compromised is the true story of Bill Clinton's political sell-out to the CIA.
Clinton's unbridled political ambitions and his campaign pledge to create "jobs for Arkansans" led him to compromise his ideals in exchange for CIA support in his bid for the Presidency.
He permitted the "Agency" to use Arkansas factories to make untraceable weapons and he allowed CIA contract agents to train Contra pilots on rural airstrips in support of the war in Nicaragua - effectively evading the Congressional ban on military aid to the Contras.
This expose unfolds through the eyewitness account of Terry Reed, a former CIA asset whose patriotism transformed him into a liability when he refused to turn a blind eye to the Agency's drug trafficking. While helping the CIA set up its secret "black" operations, he unwittingly compromised his family's safety, ultimately forcing them to become fugitives. Realizing that Reed witnessed the making of a counterfeit President and knew too much about its drug operations, the Agency set out to destroy him and his family.
This Arkansas-CIA connection became Clinton's darkest secret - a secret he shared by then Vice-President Bush, who himself was compromised by his involvement in the Iran-Contra scandal. Their shared guilt kept them silent and tied their hands as they faced off in the 1992 Presidential election with neither mentioning Iran-Contra.
The Justice Departments of Reagan, Bush - and now Clinton - have orchestrated an ongoing cover-up of the Arkansas-CIA connection, which has gone undetected for eight years with Bill Clinton its major beneficiary. Clinton's reward for this Faustian pact? The White House.
Reed puts Clinton directly in the "Iran-Contra loop". Both attended a secret meeting where CIA arms arrangements, illegal Contra training and money laundering were discussed. Involved with Clinton in this cabal were Colonel Oliver North, William Barr (George Bush's attorney general), Felix Rodriguez (Bay of Pigs veteran and George Bush's CIA contact) and CIA contract agent Barry Seal, who used the cover of a high-profile drug trafficker to carry out his missions.
"Compromised" reveals the details and names of all who were involved, including these faceless power brokers now in positions of public prominence in Washington, D.C.
When the CIA learned Reed had more patriotism than they bargained for, forces within President Bush's Justice Department, the CIA and the State of Arkansas decided he had to be neutralized. People close to Clinton conspired to set Reed up on false federal criminal charges, forcing him and his family into hiding. But Reed was acquitted, and now wages a one-man legal war to bring those who framed him to justice.
Found innocent by a court of law, Reed was then convicted by TIME Magazine, which aligned itself with a Clinton campaign consumed with protecting its candidate from scandals.
Why did Terry Reed, who performed intelligence services for the US Air Force, FBI, and CIA, come forward with these revelations now? - to set the record straight and to clear his name.
"Compromised" reveals one of the most clandestine operations in recent U.S. history. It also offers behind-the-scenes insights into the sordid world of intelligence, where things are seldom what they seem and powerful people disguise greed and ambition behind the convenient mask of national security.
Customer Reviews:
The C Word.......2007-07-27
This is a great book detailing one man's experience in the Contra operation. It has high officials and low, but it is written a bit rough. Particularly the absurd repetition of "Compromised" to the point I was hoping someone would lay a beatdown on the writer. Still, if you care for the genre it is an element of something.
Amazing Book.......2007-01-10
This book is simply amazing. It details the life of a CIA asset, pilot and businessman as he falls further and further into the rabbit hole and learns the truth about the CIA and its control of the government. In the book we find that Bill Clinton, George HW Bush and many other politicians are "compromised" and beholden to the secret government known as the CIA. If you think that there is a difference between political parties, prepare to experience a paradigm shift.
Mr. Reed nails it between the uprights!.......2006-10-03
I still have a cassette tape of Mr.
Reed on Dr. Stan's fine Radio Liberty
show discussing how the alphabet soup
lettered agencies came at him with
both barrels blazing under the overused
guies of (get this!) 'National Security.'
Get this book Mr. & Mrs. America!!!!!!
A great book inspite of:.......2006-01-14
A great book but about 200 too many pages and horrible typography. I have first hand knowledge of many events described and they are acurate. A must read even though a hard read.
This book should be read by every US citizen. However, it will be read by too few, because of the way the book was produced. I suspect that the book was sabotaged by agent/s provocateur at the production level.
This only proves just how bad our "elite" don't want us to know the truth. Learn the truth in spite of them!
Terry Reed vs. Criminals In Action.......2005-11-11
"This book could topple the President," is the quote from the London Sunday Telegraph on the back cover. Well, ten years on and Bill Clinton seems to be a respected elder statesman and I don't think he comes out of this book with his reputation too badly damaged as at least he invested some of the drug money into regenerating Arkansas. It seems that back in 1992 when Mr Reed went public about his experiences that he wasn't taken seriously because it would have meant that Clinton, who had been a vocal critic of aid to the Contras, would have been performing "risky favors" (as Time magazine put it) for the Reagan administration. And why would he do that? Money! The CIA supposedly judged Arkansas to be a kind of banana republic with very poor accounting standards and used it as a base to manufacture weapons to be used in Nicaragua and the CIA paid Clinton for the privilege. However, it seems that Clinton got greedy and creamed off too much of the CIA's hard-earned drug money and the operation was moved to Mexico.
Terry Reed was involved in the business of training Contra pilots and in the manufacture of the weapons. I liked the way he was open about his motives. An Vietnam veteran, he wanted to defeat the "Commies" properly, not like in Vietnam, where, as he puts it, soldiers were left at times unable to do their job properly because of people like Kissinger, who was judged to be more interested in eating gourmet food in Paris and talking about "detente" with China. He also says he wanted to be a millionaire by the time he was 40 and to have more adrenalin flowing in his life.
Well, the CIA certainly seems to have delivered in getting the adrenalin flowing in Mr Reed and his family. The way he tells it, it sounds like he was set up, along with his friend Barry Seal. Seal sounds a bit of a charismatic fellow, a bit like the James Woods character in the movie "Salvador" and he's almost the star of the show in the first couple of hundred pages of the book. (He comes to a sticky fate shortly after bragging about possessing footage of a certain vice-president's sons engaged in a cocaine deal.)
This book is one that should probably be read twice, as some of the protagonists are not all that they seem and there is some double-crossing and maybe triple-crossing going on. It sort of made me think of the movie The Usual Suspects.
Only the Contra aspect of Iran-Contra is covered. For the Iran aspect, I would recommend reading Trail of the Octopus (Amazon UK has lots of used copies). That book is mostly about the Lockerbie cover-up, but contains lots about Oliver North and Iran-Contra from a Defense Intelligence Agency perspective. In that book, former DIA operative Lester Coleman states that it was the Pentagon and the DIA who blew the whistle on Oliver North! Coleman also refers to "Oliver North's ragtag army of conmen, yahoos and armchair mercenaries", which presumably included Mr Reed!?
Overall, I think this is a great book, recommended especially for students of geopolitics and international relations.
Average customer rating:
- is there any democracy left for the rest of us?
- Intriguing in Places, Sermonizing in Others
- The Game!
- a modern day truth teller
- Informative, Thought Provoking
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Wealth and Democracy: A Political History of the American Rich
Kevin Phillips
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The Politics of Rich and Poor: Wealth and the American Electorate in the Reagan Aftermath
ASIN: 0767905334
Release Date: 2002-05-14 |
Amazon.com
Most American conservatives take it as an article of faith that the less governmental involvement in affairs of the market and pocketbook the better. The rich do not, whatever they might say--for much of their wealth comes from the "power and preferment of government." So writes Kevin Phillips, the accomplished historian and one-time Washington insider, in this extraordinary survey of plutocracy, excess, and reform. "Laissez-faire is a pretense," he argues; as the wealth of the rich has grown, so has its control over government, making politics a hostage of money. Examining cycles of economic growth and decline from the founding days of the republic to the recent collapse of technology stocks, Phillips dispels notions of trickle-down wealth creation, pricks holes in speculative bubbles, and decries the ever-increasing "financialization" of the economy--all of which, he argues, have served to reduce the well-being of ordinary Americans and government alike. Highly readable for all its charts and graphs, Phillips's book offers a refreshing--and, of course, controversial--blend of economic history and social criticism. His conclusions won't please all readers, but just about everyone who comes to his pages will feel hackles rising. --Gregory McNamee
Book Description
For more than thirty years, Kevin Phillips' insight into American politics and economics has helped to make history as well as record it. His bestselling books, including The Emerging Republican Majority (1969) and The Politics of Rich and Poor (1990), have influenced presidential campaigns and changed the way America sees itself. Widely acknowledging Phillips as one of the nation's most perceptive thinkers, reviewers have called him a latter-day Nostradamus and our "modern Thomas Paine." Now, in the first major book of its kind since the 1930s, he turns his attention to the United States' history of great wealth and power, a sweeping cavalcade from the American Revolution to what he calls "the Second Gilded Age" at the turn of the twenty-first century.
The Second Gilded Age has been staggering enough in its concentration of wealth to dwarf the original Gilded Age a hundred years earlier. However, the tech crash and then the horrible events of September 11, 2001, pointed out that great riches are as vulnerable as they have ever been. In Wealth and Democracy, Kevin Phillips charts the ongoing American saga of great wealth–how it has been accumulated, its shifting sources, and its ups and downs over more than two centuries. He explores how the rich and politically powerful have frequently worked together to create or perpetuate privilege, often at the expense of the national interest and usually at the expense of the middle and lower classes.
With intriguing chapters on history and bold analysis of present-day America, Phillips illuminates the dangerous politics that go with excessive concentration of wealth. Profiling wealthy Americans–from Astor to Carnegie and Rockefeller to contemporary wealth holders–Phillips provides fascinating details about the peculiarly American ways of becoming and staying a multimillionaire. He exposes the subtle corruption spawned by a money culture and financial power, evident in economic philosophy, tax favoritism, and selective bailouts in the name of free enterprise, economic stimulus, and national security.
Finally, Wealth and Democracy turns to the history of Britain and other leading world economic powers to examine the symptoms that signaled their declines–speculative finance, mounting international debt, record wealth, income polarization, and disgruntled politics–signs that we recognize in America at the start of the twenty-first century. In a time of national crisis, Phillips worries that the growing parallels suggest the tide may already be turning for us all.
Customer Reviews:
is there any democracy left for the rest of us?.......2007-08-20
The American experiment in democracy has degenerated into a plutocracy, in which wealth and power preempt democracy's ideals of equality and freedom [cf Kevin Phillips' Wealth & Democracy]. While Phillips gives a depressing history of the decline, and its corruption thru the centuries, Cadillac Desert focuses on perhaps the biggest corrupter of all - the sprawling water projects of the American West, in which water is diverted at huge cost to grow crops no one needs, all to support giant corporations that threaten to wipe out the family farms that were the rationale for the projects in the first place. Taken together, these books demonstrate that ideology or the party in power matters little - elections become a charade, masking the control of government by capital and its corporate controllers.
Intriguing in Places, Sermonizing in Others.......2006-06-20
Kevin Phillips is not a bad man. He genuinely has an interest in the admittedly complex topic of economics, wealth consolidation and its effects on democratic institutions. The problem with Phillips' book is not that he has shed his Republican affiliation to take up the cause of progressive crusading, but that it often shifts from the gripping to the mind-numbingly technical without warning.
There are valid points in Phillips' book that are deserving of deeper thought and consideration; resorting to charts and trend diagrams, however, is not always the best way to illuminate the ideas Phillips wants to express in his work. At times Phillips seems more content to showcase just how much he knows rather than relating that information to the reader in a way that can then be turned into a point of discussion that does not border on a PowerPoint presentation.
At times Phillips spends more time placing blame for certain economic problems than he does discussing causes and possible solutions, though this can be forgiven if the reader follows Phillips' apocalyptic view of what is to come if the increased consolidation of wealth among the very few continues. In highly-charged political times, readers are apt to either give this work five stars or one, in line with their prevailing political ideology. The truth is, Wealth and Democracy is not a brilliant work, nor is it a worthless waste of time. Nearly every reader can find something interesting to grab hold of in Phillips' work. That is worth something.
The Game!.......2006-05-14
The middle class is not democratizing economically or politically. The middle class is not taking control of its money and instead the middle is rapidly transferring money from its savings into the massive market profits for the super rich. The middle class should immediately abandon any transfers from savings into the stock market and preserve their wealth, but instead they will be lured into hedge funds and mutual markets speculating that someday they will be super rich.
Richard Goodwin says, "money establishes priorities, holds down federal revenues, revises federal legislation, shifts income from the middle class to the super rich." "Money restrains the enforcement of laws written to protect the country from abuse of wealth-laws that mandate environmental protection, anti-trust, laws to protect the consumer against fraud, laws that safeguard the securities market...and more." Money in Babylon has become all powerful, while reform has dawdled. Politics has capitulated to the Market barons. For example, lobby investment dollars can turn a 100,000% return. Manufacturers craft industry-specific subsidies, insert tax breaks into code, extend patients or give away public property for free. The Timber industry spent $8 million in campaign contribution to preserve the logged road subsidy worth $458 million. Glaxo Wellcome spent $1.2 million to get a 19th month extension on Zantec worth $1 billions. The tobacco industry spent $30 million in tax contribution for tax breaks totaling $50 billion.
Historically, conspicuous consumption became a pillar of statecraft in Venice. Licentiousness stimulated art demand increasing competition for nude paintings. The market attacked and destroying all moral codes inhibiting content in the market and lead to opulence, extravagance, and vice. "The world we inhabit today, with its ruthless competitiveness, fierce consumerism, restless desire for ever wider horizons, discovery, and innovation...is a world which was made in the Renaissance." Renaissance emerged as Materialism philosophy reigned supreme; objective argument provided the ideology within the corrupting gatherings of individuals. American Renaissance and industrialism embraced Darwinism. Darwinism represented the longest-lasting philosophic shield held up by the American Wealth Accumulators: Andrew Carnegie, John D. Rockerfeller, Chauncey Depew, and James J. Hill. The trinity materialistic God equaled Darwinism, conspicuous consumption, and self interest. The Renaissance lionized the idols of consumption, the top artist and purveyors of luxury goods: Bottielli, Titan, Michelangelo, and Leonardo da Vinci. Monetarist, Milton Friedman said, "Greed was the basis to society" and wanted a system "setup an arrangement under which greed will do the least harm. Capitalism is that kind of system."
Chicago University indoctrinated students with doctrines of big business. Public choice argued American law was a system of commands, prohibitions, and rules often contradicting and countermanding, the "natural logic" of the markets. The cleansing of the law of interferences like government regulation worked to facilitate the freedom of the markets. Disillusionment strengthened and market utopia was a idealism not a reality. Consumption drove debt burdens. Debt burdens peaked in the 1920s, 1960s, 1980s, and 1990s. Debt is the double edged sword that threatens the wealth accumulation of the super rich. The super rich flee markets heavy in debt at a certain point of no return. "Speculative excesses supported by the tendencies of elites spin illusions for themselves and the less-sophisticated public about the new capacities of government and private sector management. Manias require convincing siren songs: insisting that things really are different this time, financially as well as technologically." Debt has transformed the two headed eagle into on head. The fed and the treasury, in a sense have become joint, proactive managers of the multi-trillion dollar "USA fund". Markets economies might be claim, but globalizing U.S government economic management has become the game.
The speculative bubble of 2000-2001 experienced real damage in early 2000s as the recession hit manufacturing and deepened the damage with a crisis in several technology industries, and spread widely into the service industry. The share of U.S manufacturing assets in foreign hands jumped 3% in 1970, 8% in 1980, 19% in 1990 and foreign ownership surged from $270 billion in 1997 to $497 billion in 2000. US companies traded hands with foreign owners: Dresdner Bank purchased Wasserstein Peralla; Sumitomo owned 15% of Goldman Sachs; ING owned Actna Financial Services; Zurich Financial took S Investments, Credit Suisse bought First Boston; and UBS Warburg purchased Paine Webber.
a modern day truth teller.......2006-03-23
I've always been impressed with the honesty and integrity of Kevin Phillips. Coming out of the conservative movement, Phillips nevertheless places truth, and a deep concern for the well being of American democracy, well over and above mere partisanship. The current corrupt leadership in Washington DC could learn a thing or two here, where Phillips turns a critical eye to the age old tension between democracy and the tendency toward an oligarchy. Lately, it seems that democracy has been the loser in this struggle.
For example, as Molly Ivins pointed out in a somewhat recent column in The American Prospect magazine, when Republicans talk about "flexibility," it means letting business do whatever it wants without standards, mandates or worker and consumer rights. Ever since FDR's New Deal, working overtime gets you time-and-a-half in money, which has the happy effect of holding the work week down to 40 hours -- or at least preventing it from ballooning grossly.
Some recently proposed Bush rules, which the congressional Republican leadership then codified and expanded, would:
-- Exclude previously protected workers who were entitled to overtime by reclassifying them as managers. Companies are already using this ploy where they can get away with it. Say you're frying burgers on the night shift at McDonald's, making overtime, and suddenly -- congratulations -- you're the assistant night manager, with no raise and no overtime.
-- Eliminate certain middle-income workers from overtime protections by adding an income limit, above which workers no longer qualify for overtime. You like that? You make too much to earn overtime.
-- Remove overtime protection from large numbers of workers in aerospace, defense, health care, high tech and other industries
This is one of many examples which can be explained by an underlying dynamic which Kevin Phillips addresses in this very important book. As Phillips points out, the wealth class increasingly controls social and political institutions, either outright, or through a more subtle influence, and this allows them to retain their class privileges. This may be good for them, but it's not so good for democracy.
Informative, Thought Provoking.......2006-01-31
Wealth and Democracy is a well-written, cogent account of the historical intersection of income distribution and politics. i would recommend it to economics students as it explains some fairly arcane issues in a very non-technical style. It also has some great anecdotes. I hope potential readers won't be put off by the many negative reviews here on Amazon (many of which appear to have been written by the same person judging by the recurring phrases (Nixon-ite!) and spelling mistakes). As someone who works for a leading U.S. company in the finance sector in Asia, I would say Phillips' analysis should be taken seriously, especially given the current account and fiscal deficits that are gradually draining the U.S. of its economic lifeblood.
Book Description
Lords of Poverty is a case study in betrayals of a public trust. The shortcomings of aid are numerous, and serious enough to raise questions about the viability of the practice at its most fundamental levels. Hancock’s report is thorough, deeply shocking, and certain to cause critical reevaluation—of the government’s motives in giving foreign aid, and of the true needs of our intended beneficiaries.
Customer Reviews:
Fascinating if one sided- a must read for all development workers. Unfortunately outdated.......2006-05-29
Disclosure time- I work in the aid industry.
While I agree with much of what Hancock has to say (see below), this book is somewhat one-sided. Aid can reasonably claim a share in some positive world developments, such as rising life expectancy rates, decreased infant mortality, increase in primary education and literacy, growth in per capita GDP, and others. Undoubtedly, success has been patchy, and some areas, such as Sub-Saharan Africa, are worse off than they were fifty years ago, before the advent of the international aid industry. But in detailing its extensive failures, one should not completely ignore its successes (even if they maybe much less than what the aid industry claims).
With all that being said, I think a book of this sort is a must read for all aid workers, to bring us face to face with dark side of our work.
Here is a list of criticisms Hancock has about the international aid industry, and my own impressions.
1. International aid is a big bureaucracy more intent on keeping itself going than helping the poor.
My response- true- International aid is a huge bureaucracy. I spend my time writing and reading memos, and trying to get them 'cleared' as fast as possible. I literally spend no time with the poor.
2. International aid agencies spend money on big, wasteful projects that harm the poor and decimate indigenous societies.
My response: True depending on the development agency/country mission. Agencies (and agency sub-divisions, such as country missions) with lots of funds go this route. The ones that don't have such large accounts hire 'technical experts' instead.
3. Aid agencies hire expensive foreign 'technical experts' who lack local expertise; they bypass the concerns and wisdom of the local population.
True to a large extent. Most experts do not even speak the language of those they are trying to help. Some of our experts do supposedly meet with the local population, and address them through means such as surveys, interviews and 'focus group discussions.' I have no idea how hard they really try, as I sit in the office writing and reading memos. In either case, nothing really innovative comes from these efforts. This is because these experts already have blanket solutions (which are the same throughout the world) and try to impose them on the local populace through 'behavior change and communication' and other similar methods. Thus, the surveys and interviews, to the extent they take place at all, are not really a means to partner with the local people; rather, they are means to learn about the 'barriers' to implementation of blanket solutions.
4. International aid is actually a means for subsidizing western businesses.
Undoubtedly true. As Hancock points out, this is one reason why development agencies go for big projects, and why they hire 'foreign experts.' If I am not spending my time writing and reading memos I am spending my time reading project proposals for my development agency's money. Most of these, of course, come from Western businesses and NGOs. I also spend my time enforcing or waiving regulations stating that organizations that receive our money can only buy goods (including but certainly not limited to automobiles and pharmaceuticals) produced in my nation.
5. International aid has allowed wicked despots to make themselves richer, and allowed ruling thugs to escape responsibility.
True- but I think there has been somewhat more of an emphasis today on funding being tied to concepts such as 'good governance,' controlling corruption, and so on, at least in theory. Of course, reality is sometimes different, in that nations of 'strategic importance' get large amounts of funds despite poor governance, incredible corruption and other failures.
5. Development workers are lazy and mediocre. They are often under-educated, make lots of money, live in big houses, have conferences in the best hotels and eat gourmet cuisine.
Partly true. Most of the aid workers in my particular aid agency are highly educated- the minimum entry requirement is a master's degree, and many of us have PhDs or the equivalent. Our base salary is not very impressive compared to others of a similar educational background- certainly many of us could make much more outside of the official aid industry. That being said, the fringe benefits are quite lavish- one may even say over the top: I admit that I am a single woman living in a large 3-bedroom manor, I attend conferences at ritzy hotels and dine on great food- in an impoverished third world country, all at government, or should I say tax payer, expense.
So, the aid industry has gone seriously wrong- what can we do about it? Unfortunately, while Hancock goes into great depths about the problems of aid, he gives us very few solutions. He believes we should dismantle the aid industry- but then what? How can we as citizens of our planet help our world become a better place? Some possible solutions suggested themselves to me when reading the book- one wonders why Hancock decided not to write an extra chapter with ideas such as these:
1. Clarify and purify intentions. As Hancock points out, the mixed intentions of the aid industry (help the poor AND aid western businesses AND further political interests AND AND AND...) is responsible for many of the problems it has caused.
2. Partner with local communities. I mean truly partner with them, listen to their concerns and ideas, and let them take the lead in coming up with solutions. Note, unlike Hancock, I do think there is a place, with careful thought, for some `Western' knowledge and technology. The best solutions maybe ones arrived at through our collective wisdom. However, don't just try to impose blanket solutions through means such as 'behavior change.'
3. Keep things small as much as possible. Some big projects such as large-scale famine relief, refugee assistance, etc, maybe necessary, but these large-scale efforts are much more prone to corruption, and much more often bypass local communities.
4. Speak the local language- this is the only way to effectively partner with local communities.
Finally, as others have pointed out, the book was written in 1989, so its quite dated. While much of what it says still holds true, an updated version offering modern examples of aid failure would be much more powerful.
good points marred by over-the-top rhetoric and no solutions.......2005-04-29
Hancock makes important points in this book: many aid projects do more harm than good, many aid officials are overpaid, too much aid money gets funneled to US companies (for more on this, see Confessions of an Economic Hit Man, by John Perkins), and publicly funded aid organizations are insufficiently accountable to the public. But his extreme rhetoric warns us that if there is a good side to aid, it certainly won't be represented here. Here's a sample of his accusations: "These lords of poverty are the druids of the modern era wielding enormous power that is accountable to no one."
On the one hand, Hancock's anecdotal evidence is unconvincing. He tells us that his often-chilling anecdotes are representative, but we have no way of really knowing. That said, he provides so many anecdotes that - by the end - we start to feel like they are, if not representative of all aid, at least insightful into an uncomfortable proportion.
But the litany of anecdotes is also tiring. The writing is not particularly great, and I felt that some of the analysis was flawed. (For example, in two places he argues that Western nations don't give nearly enough in aid, but most of the book argues that everything we give is wasted anyway. It's not clear how giving more would help, given his theses.)
Eventually I tired of simply hearing one aid horror story after another. He also misses the fact that there have been some major successes in aid, particularly in the realm of public health, in which organizations like the World Bank and UNICEF have played a part. (To read about some of these successes, look at Millions Saved by Ruth Levine et al.)
I'm glad I read the book, but I wish Hancock had made it a little less exhausting and a little more balanced. I also wish we'd gotten more solutions in the end. His only solution is to dissolve the aid industry (as it is "inherently bad, bad to the bone, and utterly beyond reform"), after which we have the vague promise that "it will become possible for people to rediscover ways to `help' one another directly."
A wonderful account.......2004-11-28
This sobering account of the truth about aid and the turth about what the 'lords of poverty' are doing to africa is wonderful. Let us first understand the thesis. The new NGOs and those who make their living on aiding 'Africa' are in it for the money and their racist idea that africans cant do anything without the white man has led to disaster in africa. THe one solution to africas problems would be for all the aid workers to leave. Let Africa walk on her own legs. This book tells the dirty details of the how the aid organizations lie to the western public to get massive amounts fo money so they can drive expensive cars and pray on teenage african prositutes and what is worse these aid organizations constitute a new colonization of Africa by the europeans, here we have entire countries who budgets are planned by the IMF and whose food is distributed by the WFO and whose schools are built by NGOs. Where is the African in all this? COlonization is alive and well in Africa and this book exposes it.
Seth J. Frantzman
extremely disappointing.......2004-10-15
As an open-minded aid worker, I was interested to read about our faults (and there are many, nobody's perfect).
But G.Hancock fails miserably to deliver. I have the same reaction with Michael Moore: I agree with his ideas, want to enajoyhis books, and then am extremley disappointed. A long litany of facts mostly correct, sometimnes distorted to fit the picture, and nothing else. No analysis of reasons why, no consideration of what the other side may have to say, no shades of gray, everything is black. Morevoer there does not seem to be any alternatives. Even conservatives can do better than that.
One example of superficial analysis (page 171):
1- a highway was (poorly) built in Somalia and started failing almost immediately. OK this happens too often
2- Somalia will still be repaying the loan ($100M) after 40 years.
NO: first of all with a soft loan they would pay at most a third of it, second even if the road is failing, the road built may be still worth more than that...
And second of all Somalia's debt was cancelled in the meantime...SO they will not pay anything...
I am not saying building a poor highway is OK, I am saying the the author criticizes in a simplistic manner. His ranting is really useless. I guess it is for non-aid workers, who will conclude that aid is to be stopped completely.
WHAT DOES THE AUTHOR PRPOSE TO IMPROVE THE PERFORMANCE OF AID ?
Nothing said about that.
NB. One failing among others: why there is no mention of international journalists (such as the author). They also live (fatly) from poverty...
One part fact, one part rant.......2004-06-08
The first half of this short book is a relatively informative overview of the responsibilities and functions of major aid and development agencies, although the statistics are now well out of date. That said, little of any of this is primary research and the author relies fairly selectively on sensationalistic quotes and facts that tell the part of the story he wants to tell.
The second half of the book, however, is little more than a rant during which the author mocks and insults aid and development workers for about 100 pages. The vitriolic quality of writing makes one wonder if an aid worker dumped him at some point. You could skip this whole part of the book and be better off for it.
Maybe I take it personally since I'm an aid worker, but I can tell you with authority that Mr. Hancock really doesn't have any idea what he's writing about - he mischaracterizes the lives and personalities of most aid workers and oversimplifies the challenges and complexity of the work. He's angry and bitter about something and I don't think it's corruption or incompetence.
And just for the record: Reviewer Viola P. Reyna doesn't have command of the facts either. Most foreign aid workers are required to pay taxes in their home countries while living abroad. Americans living abroad for more than 330 days a year, whether they are aid workers or oil drillers or whatever, are not required to pay taxes unless they make over $80,000. Everyone is still, however, required to report their incomes and file their tax returns. So contrary to what Viola says, the US Government knows exactly what everyone is making.
Book Description
Do you ever wonder if there’s a connection between the corruption scandals in the news and the steady decline in the quality of life for millions of Americans?
Do you ever wonder what corporations get for the millions of dollars they pour into the American political system?
Do you ever think the government has been hijacked by forces hostile to average Americans?
Do you ever want to fight back?
Millions of Americans lack health care and millions more struggle to afford it. Politicians claim they care, then pass legislation that just sends more cash to the HMOs. Wages have been stagnant for thirty years, even as corporate profits skyrocket. Politicians say they want to fix the problem and then pass bills written by lobbyists that drive wages even lower and punish those crushed by debt. Jobs are being shipped overseas, pensions are being cut, and energy is becoming unaffordable. And our government, more concerned about maintaining its corporate sponsorship than protecting its citizens, does nothing about it.
In Hostile Takeover, David Sirota, a major new voice in American politics, seeks to open the eyes of ordinary Americans to the fact that corporate interests have undermined democracy, aided and abetted by their lackeys in our allegedly representative government. At a time when more and more of America’s major political leaders are being indicted or investigated for corruption, Sirota takes readers on a journey that shows how all of this nefarious behavior happened right under our noses—and how the high-profile scandals are merely one product of a political system and debate wholly owned by Big Money interests. Sirota considers major public issues that feel intractable—like spiraling health care costs, the outsourcing of jobs, the inequities of the tax code, and out-of-control energy prices—and shows how in each case workable solutions are buried under the lies of lobbyists, the influence of campaign cash, and the ubiquitous spin machine financed by Big Business.
With fiery passion, pinpoint wit, and lucid analysis, Hostile Takeover reveals the true enemies of reform and their increasingly sophisticated—and hostile—tactics. It’s an essential guidebook for those of us tired of the government selling us out—and determined to take our country back.
Also available as an eBook
Customer Reviews:
Great seller!.......2007-08-08
The book was in excellent condition as promised, it was well packed and delivery was prompt. Great buying experience; highly recommended!!!
Hostile Takeover: How Big Money and Corruption Conquered Our Government --And How We Take It Back.......2007-07-31
I am not sure how I can say I love this book when what it is saying makes me so angry that I can only read it for a short period of time before I have to take a break from it. It/he speaks truth to power---a very ugly and perverted power. I fear that no politician is free from the corruption; and, I wonder how we can ever take back our government.
Good, But Biased.......2007-07-24
"Hostile Takeover" was an excellent book showcasing just how tight Corporate America and the US government are when it comes to domestic issues. It is highly recommended for everyone to read. I found a few flaws in it however. One was that it did not focus on the hostile takeover of US foreign policy for big business interests. However, this subject could be a different book entirely, which is the job of Noam Chomsky. It is good he doesnt focus on the same subject as Chomsky and many others, but I felt he could have at least mentioned some of the issues of foreign policy. Another problem for me was that the author had no problem calling out think tanks and institutes as conservative, but never labeled others that he supported as liberal, instead constantly calling them "nonpartisan". I am a libertarian, but I enjoyed this book. He is most certainly a liberal but he does have some pretty good ideas to the solve problems of the hostile takeover and I continually found myself agreeing with him. Recommended for any thoughtful person concerned with our counry's future.
Give them as Gifts.......2007-02-23
I got this book from the library and read it over a month. It took me that long because every night I read it, I was sick to my stomach. It is so chock full of facts that I want the paperback when it comes out just so I can use it as a reference tool when I argue with my conservative friends about politics. Come to think of it, I'd like to buy copies for anyone that still feels free trade is a good idea, that CEO's really deserve the pay they are getting, and it would be a good idea to privatize social security.
Hostile Takeover: How Big Money and Corruption Conquered Our Government--and How We Take It Back.......2007-01-09
goood
Book Description
Dan Reingold was one of the top analysts on Wall Street. Specializing in telecom companies like WorldCom and Qwest, Reingold believed in Wall Street, and was a part of it. But in this insiders memoir, Reingold describes how his enthusiasm gradually gave way to disgust when he saw how deeply corrupt Wall Street really was. Because big investors had the advantage of inside information, which companies shared with more accomodating analysts, Reingold saw how a straight arrow like himself was doomed to fail.
Reingold is like an incredulous minister who mistakenly finds himself in a whore house. He struggles with temptation: for example, his employer, Credit Suisse First Boston, wants him to sign a contract that would give him huge incentives in return for essentially selling out his clients. He seethes with resentment at being continually trumped by his nemesis, Jack Grubman, who was viewed as a superstar and only later, fined and thrown out of the industry.
Ultimately, Reingold comes to terms with the corrupted, insiders game that was his profession. In the tradition of Liar's Poker, this is a lively, insiders account of how things really work on Wall Street that will teach even Eliot Spitzer a few things. To complete his tale, Reingold even sat through the 2005 trial of one of the most spectacular losers of the 1990s, fallen WorldCom CEO Bernie Ebbers, who Reingold knew in his heyday.
Customer Reviews:
Good read on the inner workings of Wall Street but..........2007-08-10
..but each time I felt that I liked the author, he kept bringing up instances to support his extreme dislike of Grubman. This really took away from the content and message of the book. I think it would have been enough to state how different he was from Grubman and then let his own example of hard, clean work be benchmark for the reader to compare the 2 analysts. In the end, no one can say Grubman was as honest a man as Reingold.
Interesting read.......2007-07-30
Interesting read for anyone interested in learning more about the stock analyst profession and the conflicts of interest that occurred during the dot com bubble during the late 90s.
Not Since "Den of Thieves...".......2007-07-29
Not Since the book "Den of Thieves" has a Wall Street expose been created that details the lurid "behind the scenes" events and actions affecting a major part of our nation's financial industry.
Author Dan Reingold, a former Wall Street telecom analyst, takes the reader on an intimate journey through the telecom stock "boom" and subsequent "bust" in the 1990's.
I found this book to be very insightful with particular interest to those of us who specialize in "day-trading" and dabbling in trading of stocks and options (at any level). Author Reingold warns:
"Of all the lessons I've learned in my time on the Street, the most difficult one to swallow is that I no longer believe in the transparency of the American financial system. When I came to the Street, I saw it as a place where there were plenty of sharks, but also as a place where American capitalism reigned supreme, a place where everyone has a chance to do well if they were smart, hardworking, and a little bit lucky. It was a game I enjoyed playing--at least until how I realized how corrupted the game had become.
But I also came to realize that for people who don't have access to this inner sanctum, Wall Street is not a game at all. It's deadly serious, and it's rigged against most of its participants--everyone but the few with a seat at Wall Street's special tables. If you take anything away from this book, I hope it is this unfortunate truth (pp 314-15)."
Well done and rated at five stars for taking the uncomfortable position of trying to sound the alarm while uncovering the truth.
JP
Inside scoop on the telecomm industry.......2007-07-15
The author gives all the dirt on what it was like to work on wall street during the telecomm craze of the eary 1990's. all the players are named and the best part that he concludes and proves how slimy it all is with concrete examples. Good book.
Good story about the job of a Research Analyst.......2007-03-09
This is a good description of what research analyst's job entails. However, one has to read this book with a grain of salt as the author may not have been forthcoming about the activities that he has been involved in that are in a gray area. Otherwise, though, it makes for interesting reading. I wonder if it becomes fuel for more regulatory changes on Wall Street.
Also, the salaries spoken about in this book are shocking. Read it to find out what they earn on Wall Street :-).
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- The Divine Matrix: Bridging Time, Space, Miracles, and Belief
- Hamlet
- Trompe L'Oeil At Home: Faux Finishes And Fantasy Settings
- Atomic Force Microscopy: Biomedical Methods and Applications
- Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things
- History: Fiction or Science
- Detection Unlimited
- The New American House 2: Innovations in Residential Design and Construction: 30 Case Studies
- An Architectural Guidebook to Brooklyn
- A Photographic Guide to Ferns of New Zealand
The Secret History of the American Empire: Economic Hit Men, Jackals, and the Truth about Global Corruption
Confessions of an Economic Hit Man
Censored 2007: The Top 25 Censored Stories (Censored)
Nemesis: The Last Days of the American Republic (American Empire Project)
The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism
