Bad Money

Reckless Finance, Failed Politics, and the Global Crisis of American Capitalism

by Kevin Phillips

Viking Press, 2008

ISBN: 9780670019076
Pages: 256

Category: Economics & Politics

In this summary you will learn

• How finance became the most important sector of the U.S. economy
• How oil and debt combine to threaten America’s position in the world
• Why America’s political parties are ill-equipped to meet the challenges that confront them

Why you should read Bad Money

Many readers already admire Kevin Phillips’s previous books, with their incisive analysis of U.S. politics. In this treatise, published just before the 2008 presidential election, his main concerns are the dangerous dominance of the financial sector in the U.S. economy and the fiscal implications of peak oil. Phillips covers many other hazards, from securitization to the real estate bubble. He provides historical background to explain modern financial circumstances, whacks both the Bush and Clinton administrations, and offers his take on everything from imperial England to the efficient market hypothesis. After he explains how and why the U.S. is teetering dangerously on the brink of disaster, getAbstract is relieved to report that Phillips also offers some ideas about how it might rescue itself by going back to strong manufacturing, solid education and better regulations. This seems to be a fairly hasty overview of bad times, but the author can see beyond the immediate storm to the possibility of a brighter day.

About the Author

Kevin Phillips has been a political and economic commentator for more than three decades. A former White House strategist, he has been a regular contributor to The Los Angeles Times and National Public Radio. He has written for Harper’s and TIME, and is the author of 10 books.

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