The Star Online: Lifestyle: Bookshelf
The Star Online: Lifestyle: Bookshelf |
| Events and crisis still haunting the United States Posted: 23 Nov 2012 04:00 PM PST Age of Greed: The Triumph of finance and the decline of America, 1970 to present BY now, most people would have experienced the effects of the global crisis which started in 2007 in the United States. The rise in prices of food, rent, petrol and properties is part of the global economic puzzle today. Some may think that inflation is part of daily routine – and to a certain extent, they are right – but it is the speed and quantum of the rise that is an issue today. But above and beyond price increases, the volatility of global stock markets and the high gold price, there are other fundamental issues at stake here. In Age of Greed, author and economic journalist Jeff Madrick does not write so much about the nature of mankind pertaining to this human condition as he does about the personalities that make up that 1% of the American society. Beginning from the 1970s to the present, he writes about the people whom, in his view, have in some ways, contributed to the present US economy and politics, some 40 years later. The Occupy Wall Street movement and 99% versus the 1% form the bedrock of this book. While this movement took place only last year, the author goes back to history to tell how this unhappiness with the 1% began way back in the 1970s. Each chapter is a long profile of a personality. It could be a past president, a former Federal Reserve chairman, an investment banker, an arbitrageur, an economist, a fund manager, or the chairman of some American multinational company. All in all, the book covers three former American presidents – Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan and Jimmy Carter, and two former Fed chairmen, Paul Volcker and Alan Greenspan. There are mentions about the rise and fall of other presidents and leaders. While these men head the American economy, other personalities played their roles in how policies were formed - and dismantled - and these included lesser known, but no less important personalities. Bankers like Walter Wriston and Walter Wriston II, Sam Walton, best known for Walmart and Sandy Weill, former chairman of Citigroup and Hungarian investor George Soros and Jack Grubman, the former managing director of Salomon Smith Barney and research analyst for the telecommunications sector are some of the personalities profiled. Madrick tells a story about each of them beginning from their growing up years, their education and their entry into the job market or politics, and subsequently their influence and impact on broader America. He interconnects each of these personalities starting from the 1970s because it was during that period that the United States experienced punishingly high inflation, as it is experiencing today. Keeping the lid on wages of the masses, the Nixon government allowed prices to escalate phenomenally. Incomes became highly unequal and the wealthy gained undue political powers with campaign contributions. Americans began to think that the government has gone too far. This huge unhappiness and discontentment with the government was a great contrast compared with the 1950s and 1960s when Americans believed that the federal government was good for them. There is also the expenditure on the Vietnam War and various public spending on social programmes which took a heavy toll on the economy. At what point the disenchantment began is difficult to say, but Madrick begins the story of the American greed with a little known personality called Lewis Uhlers and his conservative ideology. At each chapter of a country's growth – and the United States is no different - there is the spark of an idealogy, which, given time, may gain strength and popularity. Sometimes, this idealogy becomes a movement and so Madrick begins with the conservatives. He connects the dots for us, who Uhlers met and worked for, how his idealogy affected Reagan's political career, what Onassis told a banker and how the various wars brought about changes in policies and rules. Greed will always be within each of us, to varying degrees and there is no denying that. It rises and falls with the times. But although the book is entitled as such, Madrick does not judge. Instead, he presents a here-are-the-facts and this-is-what-happened sort of scenario. Madrick writes with the intensity of a researcher and the result is a book that is robust in both details, events and crisis that have haunted – and are still haunting – the United States. The fall of Enron, the rise of debt, the social needs of the 1% are wrapped within the volume. The summary says it is an indispensible guide to understanding the 1% and how this small group shaped the economy. This is only partially correct because as Madrick highlights the lives and times of this 1%, he also inadvertently brings into focus the needs of the 99% to have a leader, or whom they perceived to be a leader. At the end of the day, it is not about personalities who lead, but the values and integrity behind the personality that is important, hence the title. |
| Posted: 23 Nov 2012 03:59 PM PST I'd Rather be in Charge A book about the author's part personal, part history, part guide to being a leader in a man's world. She shares lessons from her peers such as Martha Stewart and Suze Orman and the transformation she sees in her "students" as they embark on the road to becoming leaders at home, in their work place and in their lives. HBR Guide to Finance Basics for Managers Whether you are new to finance, or you just need a refresher, this guide will give you the tools and confidence you need to master the fundamentals, as all good managers must. Learn the language of finance, compare financials of rivals, revenue vs profits and using financial data to defend budget requests are some of the areas covered. Dark Market: How hackers became the new mafia The benefits of living in a digital, globalised society may be enormous, but so too are the dangers. Banking, shopping, dating, working and learning on-line have become routine to many. But have the institutions that keep us safe on the streets learned to protect us from the cyber criminals? This book examines the rise of hackers and the dangers they pose. |
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