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| | Location: Home » Politics » Bargain Books » Bad Money: Reckless Finance, Failed Politics, and the Global Crisis of American Capitalism | August 20, 2008 |
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| 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: $6.54
You Save: $19.41 (75%)
Buy New/Used/Collectible from $6.25
Avg. Customer Rating:  (42 reviews)
Sales Rank: 1083
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Unknown), English (Published)
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
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
 Haven't We Heard All This Before? August 5, 2008
2 out of 9 found this review helpful
The American political scientist Kevin Phillips' new book "Bad Money" is subtitled "Reckless Finance, Failed Politics, and the Global Crisis of American Capitalism," and if you are a liberal -- which would be the only ones buying this book -- you need not read any further because this book tells you exactly what you know is wrong with America today.
First and foremost the American economy is dominated by speculative capital, as evidenced by the recent Internet bubble and the subprime fiasco. But much worse America's financiers gamble without any risk -- because right now in America finance and politics are too entangled. Washington believes that American finance must be encouraged and protected, and Wall Street is a big giver to political campaigns. As a result America has become debt-ridden, and a very unequal society where the rich just get richer.
Making things much worse is America's problems abroad. First, America has lost much of what political scientists call "soft power" with the Iraq invasion -- the world no longer feels that America is good and noble. This has consequently lead to a big spike in the price of oil, a commodity that Americans are completely dependent on. And worse of all oil is in the control of some of America's arch-nemeses -- Russia, Venezuela, and of course Canada. Even the once reliable Saudis have turned against America.
In Kevin Phillips' analysis America is merely following the path of other great powers -- Hapsburg Spain, Holland, and Britain -- in its decline, and he spend a lot of time drawing historical parallels between America and these past empires. He concludes that there will be an inevitable re-balancing of power from America to Asia.
Given that every liberal holds this analysis to be the new faith Kevin Phillips will be indubitably lauded in the liberal press: The New York Review of Books, New York Times Book Review, and the New Yorker. But this is a very flawed book. It's merely a re-hashing of Kevin Phillips' previous books: "American Dynasty" and "American Theocracy." Moreover, I had to struggle to get used to his clunky academic writing. But it's the analysis itself which is most problematic.
First, let's talk about one of his arguments, an argument that is in his eyes is so obvious it's an assumption -- that the 21st century belongs to Asia. Mr. Phillips, with all due respect, have you been to Asia?
The idea that the global economy will roar on, and leave America is totally absurd. The American consumer is what drives the global economy -- if America goes into recession then so does the rest of the world. If the American dollar collapses then World War III will just be around the corner.
Consider America's trade deficit with the rest of the world. America buys oil from the Saudis and McDonald's toys from China, and America pays using Treasury bonds -- which is long-term debt, which is in itself no more useful than toilet paper. By last count America owes $1.3 trillion dollars to China. Does China have a prayer in the world of collecting on this debt? No chance in hell. But who else is going to buy Chinese goods? And China has 1.3 billion people -- that's a lot of people to have to keep employed. Like it or not China is stuck because Americans are the only ones materialistic enough to want what they manufacture. So if China and America stopped trading with each other American consumers can only buy one new shirt per year instead of 100 from Walmart. But China's unemployment problem skyrockets, its manufacturing base collapses, its assets bubbles burst, and the country goes bonkers.
Even with George W. Bush as president America cannot fail. America is just too wealthy -- it has too many resources and too many talented individuals -- plus if it's ever in trouble it can just decide to take over Canada. And America is just too resilient -- its greatest advantage is that it's constantly ability to transform itself without violent revolution (the one exception is of course the American Civil War). But America is dangerous because the wealth and strength of the global economy is completely dependent on America, and America -- ever since the collapse of the Soviet Union -- has chosen to be greedy and irresponsible. And the real effects of an American recession will be felt less on main street America and more in the factories of China and the oilfields of Saudia Arabia.
 Losing Control July 22, 2008
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
Kevin Phillips describes immediate problems with the economy, that is, energy shortage, dollar decline, and mushrooming debt. Few are thinking about what it will take to avoid major recession and how badly a recession will be compounded with huge debts.
The end result is loss of control. Growth of debt and credit industry leads to public loss of control of its economic future - a result of higher inflation coupled with higher interest rates producing enormous debts. The financial sector now dominates the industrial sector. The Federal Reserve Board would play a major role in determining the future, yet it is controlled in part by the banking sector which is not elected.
Phillips' style is arduous yet candid. When style is compounded with the bad news this can be a trying book. Phillips makes up for it with a multitude of important points.
Bad money, good book July 21, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
I don't have much to add to the other reviews except that, as a professional writer and editor, I think Phillips's style is pretty smooth and non-fatiguing, considering the complexity of the subject. He does as well as anyone can explaining such man-in-the-moon concepts as collateralized debt obligations. It is true, though, that Bad Money is probably not the ideal introduction to the story of our colossal economic undoing for any reader who is entirely unfamiliar with modern financial terminology and practices.
I mentioned this book in a blog posting: <[...]>.
Sound Message, Poor Writing July 18, 2008
2 out of 5 found this review helpful
The book brought forth a significant message about what ails America and how/why the dollar is facing collapse. The problem is that Phillips writes in a high-brow academic style and with an assumption of knowledge probably not possessed by the average reader. He has been poorly served by his editor/publisher in this regard. This important and timely work could've delivered the same message to a much wider audience had he written in plain English. Phillips gets an 'A' for concepts/ideas/analysis, but a 'C' for rendering his thoughts in a marketable manner. Pity.
 Bad Money Tedious, no solutions July 17, 2008
4 out of 9 found this review helpful
Phillips' book Bad Money is one of the most poorly written, tedious books I have ever tried to read. It has a lot of disturbing facts through-out; things the american public should be informed about, and elected officials should be held accountable for. But GEEZ! Why doesn't the author abide by basic writing principles, for example having one main subject per paragraph, clear and concise language, etc. The book reads like a rough draft.
What are we supposed to DO about the problem??? No help here.
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