Bad Money: Reckless Finance, Failed Politics, and the Global Crisis of American Capitalism | 
 enlarge | Author: Kevin Phillips
Publisher: Viking Adult
Category: Book
List Price: $25.95
Buy New: $12.25
You Save: $13.70 (53%)
New (38) Collectible (1) from $12.25
Avg. Customer Rating:  7 reviews
Sales Rank: 121
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 256
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.1
Dimensions (in): 9.1 x 6.2 x 0.1
ISBN: 0670019070
Dewey Decimal Number: 330.973
EAN: 9780670019076
ASIN: 0670019070
Publication Date: April 15, 2008 (New: Last 30 Days)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
|
| Also Available In:
|
| Similar Items:
|
| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
The bestselling author reveals how the U.S. financial sector has hijacked our economy and put Americas global future at risk
In American Theocracy, Kevin Phillips warned us of the perilous interaction of debt, financial recklessness, and the increasing cost of scarce oil. The current housing and mortgage debacle is proof once more of Phillipss prescience, and only the first harbinger of a national crisis. In Bad Money, Phillips describes the consequences of our misguided economic policies, our mounting debt, our collapsing housing market, our threatened oil, and the end of American domination of world markets. Americas current challenges (and failures) run striking parallels to the decline of previous leading world economic powersespecially the Dutch and British. Global overreach, worn-out politics, excessive debt, and exhausted energy regimes are all chilling signals that the United States is crumbling as the world superpower.
Bad money refers to a new phenomenon in wayward megafinancethe emergence of a U.S. economy that is globally dependent and dominated by hubris-driven financial services. Also bad are the risk miscalculations and strategic abuses of new multitrillion-dollar products such as asset-backed securities and the lure of buccaneering vehicles like hedge funds. Finally, the U.S. dollar has been turned into bad money as it has weakened and become vulnerable to the worlds other currencies. In all these ways, bad finance has failed the American people and pointed U.S. capitalism toward a global crisis. Bad Money is the perfect follow- up to Phillipss last book, whose dire warnings are now proving frighteningly accurate.
|
| Customer Reviews: Read 2 more reviews...
 Good But Could Have Been Better April 30, 2008
2 out of 4 found this review helpful
According to Kevin Phillips' bio page on Wikipedia he has reliably cranked out a book every 2-3 years or so since 1969. And while there are exceptions for the most part they have been either the-sky-is-falling screeds about the American economy, faux populist rants about social class and ad hominem attacks against people he doesn't like.
The thesis statement for Bad Money: In modern America wealth can be increased without creating or manufacturing anything, just by "moving paper (e.g., debt instruments) around" [p.96].
And says Phillips, the American elite's belief in "market triumphalism" [sic] [p.180] leads to a blind arrogance and that this all shows what becomes of an economic superpower that leaves its destiny to the vicissitudes of the marketplace [p.181-2]. And leading this charge of the lemmings is an entrenched but dissipated class of elites who clog up Washington, D.C. lobbying after their own interests [p.156]. Phillips also hates religion, conservatism, unearned wealth, the wealthy in general and the Bush family (or Dynasty) in particular [p.72].
The only thing that really gives Phillips any credibility at all is his extensive research and documentation complete with original graphs and charts that purport to prove his points. So far so good. However another look at Mr. Phillips' bio page shows that he went to a fancy East Coast prep school, Colgate University and Harvard Law so who is he to point fingers about entrenched elites in American politics and commerce? Takes one to know one I guess.
Phillips' reformist critique would be very persuasive indeed (or at least more plausible) if he could refrain from expressing his views in such a caustic manner and refrain from the ad hominem attacks and paranoid conspiracy theories which don't seem very believable no matter Phillips' excellent research complete with graphs, charts, footnotes and appendices.
 4.5 stars-America as a speculator economy. April 29, 2008
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
Phillip's book is similar to several other books currently available that show how the deregulation,especially of the banking and financial services sector, and privatization poliices,started by Carter in 1978 and continued by all American Presidents since,has converted the United States of America into speculator type economy where financial sector firms seek to extract a profit by the manipulation of balance and income statements .The goal is to make a return without any actual production of goods or services.
There are two minor shortcomings in the book.First,Keynes's chapter 12 of the General Theory(1936)explained exactly how the USA had been converted into a speculator economy during the 1920's.There is no mention of Keynes's contribution anywhere inthe book.Second,Adam Smith was perhaps THE major proponent of a heavily regulated banking and financial services sector.Smith warned against allowing banks to make any loans available to projectors(Keynes's speculators and rentiers),prodigals ,and imprudent risk takers.Smith warned of the very serious consequences if such loans were made-the aggregate savings of the nation would be"... wasted and destroyed..."[Smith,1776,Wealth of Nations,pp.339-340,Modern Library (Cannan) edition].Smith,contrary to Phillips, was not a believer in laissez fairy land.The warnings of Smith and Keynes have been ignored.I have deducted 1/2 of a star because Phillips does so also.I recommend this book .
 Bad Money April 29, 2008
1 out of 5 found this review helpful
I have bought my share of books from Amazon over the years, and yet have never written a review before. Most of the books i bought were excellent, yet some weren't. However, even for these duffers, I never felt compelled to write a review. So what made me write my first review for this book?
Two words: OBFUSCATION and FRUSTRATION.
"Bad Money" isn't bad, it may even be great, if reading it weren't so darn difficult. I found Mr. Phillips writing style burdensome. I was left with the distinct impression that Mr. Phillips was more interested in showing others how intelligent he was, instead of making sure he communicated his ideas clearly.
Maybe others will not have the same opinion as I did, and I do not want to persuade others from buying the book. I just wished he wrote a little more like Ernest Hemingway, and less like William F. Buckley, Jr.
Plunge Protection April 28, 2008
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
The Fed's Plunge Protection Team buying the S&P during market drops is accurately described here. I'd love to see a satirical TV spoof of it in action. Kevin Phillips is great at supplying the doomsday data and analyzing it coherently. I hope Barack will read this soon to guide him in the decisions he must make next year.
Perhaps we are set to decline like Spain, the Dutch and England (as wonderfully explained) but are those folks really so unhappy? Maybe we can be content without money buying the latest high tech gizmo or having someone else wait on us hand and foot. Is passing wealth to our offspring alone to be our life's priority? Our Renaissance after the debt crash will focus on essentials and be our socialization with each other based on fairness and community, and not on perceived opulence.
Insightful, but Incomplete and Rapidly Becoming Dated! April 22, 2008
22 out of 23 found this review helpful
"Bad Money" is about the insecurity of America's future given a debt-gorged financial sector, and vulnerability caused by expensive dependence on imported oil. The term refers not just to the depreciated dollar but also dangerous attitudes and flawed financial products.
Phillips points out that over the last 30 years, financial services have nearly doubled to a record 20% of GDP (and an even greater share of corporate profits - 54% in '04), while manufacturing's share has halved to 13% (10% of profits), greatly imperiling the economy. En route, Washington has provided government bailouts and/or liquidity when financial institutions or methodologies got themselves into trouble (eg. S&L crisis; Citibank forced into technical failure, but allowed to stay open; bailing out junk bond investors by lowering federal funds rate; etc.), encouraging bigger problems down the road.
The positive impact of borrowing has declined about 60-70% from the 1970s-80s when such monies would mostly be used for factory and highway construction, compared to today's increasingly likely use for increasing leverage for LBOs, M&A, and hedge funds. Meanwhile, the negative likelihood of families experiencing a 50% drop in income has increased dramatically from 1970 - resulting in a greater probability of default.
Cognizance of our problems has been somewhat covered up with revisions to the CPI (understating costs of home ownership) and unemployment measures (not counting those who gave up and quit looking). Thus, the 2-4%/year CPI increase 2005-2007 would have been 5-7%/year, and unemployment would have been 8%.
Early millennium results include the housing sector (including its "ATM effect") providing 40% of the nation's growth in GDP and employment (an unsustainable rate achieved through financial gamesmanship that set the stage for the current financial and construction crash), while imported petroleum outlays rose from $100 billion in '02 to $302 in '06.
Observing from a distance, OPEC has reduced its foreign-currency reserves held in dollars from 75% to 62.5%, and Iraq and Venezuela began selling oil in euros and yen (admittedly for political purposes, at least at first). Meanwhile, the U.S. has antagonized major oil producers (Iran, Russia, Venezuela), and effectively dismantled Iraq - raising the risk of nations being unwilling or unable to supply the U.S. as supplies grow tighter.
Declining oil supplies, rising demand, global warming, our recession, and global loss of confidence in American financial markets are all converging and demand strong political leadership. Phillips, however, is not optimistic that this will emerge based on strong financial sector support for the Democratic Party and political failures in other nations needing dramatic change.
Phillips makes numerous comparisons between the U.S. today and the Great Depression (Eg. Total indebtedness was three times the size of GDP in 2007, higher than the prior record set in the years of the Great Depression), as well as the declines of Rome, Holland, Spain, and Great Britain. Regardless, no predictions are made about how long or deep our current downturn will be (though his writing hints the more severe possibilities), and he gives little or no attention to the steady amassing of dollars in Asia and associated growing unemployment of Americans. Finally, readers must also keep in mind that throughout the book he refers to $70 oil - obviously outdated vs. today's nearly $120.
Interesting Side Issue: Phillips states that food represents about 14% of the U.S. CPI, vs. 33% and 46% for China and India, respectively. Doesn't auger well for biofuels continuing to take 28% of the U.S. corn crop.
|
|
|
