alonovo.com (beta 2.0)

provocative account of US political economy 2010-06-01

Reviewer: E. Zashin

2nd and 3rd parts of this book are definitely worth reading for anyone who wants a dissenting and eye-opening view of the state of the American political economy. Anyone who considers her/himself a progressive should read this now - it is very accessible for the non-specialist.

Predator Violence 2010-05-04

Reviewer: Patricia B. Ross

The greatest mistake of mankind is to presume that predators are recognized by visible violence.

Predator mentality is rooted so deeply in Darwin's discriminatory discovery that it needs little review to recognize it. What it doesn't need is justification or dismissal as an important feature in human governance, and the idea that governments or corporations are not capable of predator violence is absurd. Indeed, the ideal of collective strength and organization is at the heart of the predator scheme, the more the merrier; it's why armies were invented and used throughout history to gain advantage over weaker groups.

Because idolization of strength is a primary key to recognizing predators, and the force upon which they rely to obtain that advantage, the careful use of force is essential to security and freedom of any people, owing directly to the power of government for coercion of its people, by deception, or by force. Dictators are the ultimate predators, but never rule alone. Kings and Queens might be considered next unless they happen to be paternalistic and benevolent, but that is a rare commodity throughout history.

Democracy stands as the most promising of governmental modifications but is not without flaws since it is susceptible to deception and coercion as well as insensitivity and selfishness. All are detrimental to security and freedom, the only reason for government at all.

Domestic predator violence is no different than governmental dictatorships that infects groups, companies, or homes. Conquering the selfish motives of predators is among the most difficult tasks of humans whether it is exhibited in financial markets, predatory pricing schemes, unreasonable union demands, or domestic violence. The end result of predator violence is enslavement and loss of lives, or quality of lives - the result that must be avoided by any logical means necessary, the less violent the better.

Great book, worthy of the father's name 2010-05-02

Reviewer: Newton Ooi

This book is an examination of the economic situation of the America at the end of the 2nd G. W. Bush administration, and how it developed. With no graphs or formulas, the book is instead a lucid essay on political economy; explaining how policy and political decisions lead to economic results. The author is James K. Galbraith, son of famous progressive economist John Kenneth Galbraith. Drawing on the works of his father and other famous western economists over the past 250 years, the author shows how the concept of free markets cannot be applied to many situations, such as energy distribution, health care, and education. The author explains how attempts to do so were often driven by specific corporations or business interests who knew that the deregulation and privatization of these sectors of the economy would provide them with economic monopolies; hence the term "predator state." The author does a wonderful job presenting his views, however I am disappointed that the author does not use his arguments to examine the 911 attacks, the PR campaign against Iran, and the lead-up to the Iraq War; all of which are perfect examples of his "predator state" at work.

Galbraith Exposed 2010-04-26

Reviewer: Blackstone Gates

This screed against private control of the economy exposes the fact that James K. Galbraith is just another ivory tower elitist fundamentally opposed to permitting consumers and producers to make and control their own economic decisions. Galbraith would much prefer Statist government control over such decisions. Unfortunately, these economic academicians are unable to see that their prescriptions can only achieve half of their stated goal.

Galbraith's stated goal (which he shared with his father) is to bring the disparity of economic outcomes to a more equal outcome at the middle class level.

In reality, Statism has only produced equal outcomes at sustenance levels or worse, while changing the "predators" from private citizens acting within the law to politicians capable of making their own laws and thus decriminalizing their illegal deprivations.

Galbraith's assertion that the "market" is no longer regulated by the government is laughable on its face. The myriad acronyms of regulatory agencies and government oversight committees, reams of economic statutes and regulations, and the great Gordian Knot of the US tax code is nothing if not over-regulatory.

If Galbraith thought that the policies of Reagan and the Bush boys enabled predatory economic behavior, simple intellectual honest would require Galbraith to scorn Obama for the predatory government behavior the Obama Administration has foisted upon the economy at large. It further exposes Galbraith as a Statist partisan that the criticisms of Obama have been that his Administration has not been predatory enough.

The book is rubbish; you can get the same economic "analysis" for free at Mother Jones News and the Huffington Post.

I bought this book after seeing the author interviewed on Bill Moyers' Journal 2010-03-27

Reviewer: Amy Masarwe

One of the things I appreciated most about this book was that Mr. Galbraith managed to convey so much actual scholarly data and professional experience in a compelling, informative way, sans, intentionally, any potentially complicated industry jargon or mathematical equations.

As expected, he painstakingly details decades of frustratingly illogical and demonstrably willful malicious deregulation. And while the utter moral disregard for the suffering knowingly hoisted upon an unsuspecting public is quite horrific, the real perversion in this criminal wealth-transfer Ponzi-scheme -- benignly referred to as capitalism -- further lies in the privatized profits provided the overlord masters our dumb, duped commonwealth so generously socialized the expenses for, and worse still, the needlessly complicated Credit Default Swaps; which, deceptively simple, are exactly as titled: a swap (or trade) on the default (or demise) of credit (or mortage). A bet by a lender that his own borrower will fail. Not exactly rocket science.

And thus we are provided Bubble Engineering 101.

The banks exploited a mortgage loophole -- that being the absense of a gatekeeper, much like the SEC is to Wallstreet -- that allowed them to knowingly package financial products to people that couldn't afford them; not only in order that they could gain huge short-term profits on the way UP, but also now to ensure they gain on the way DOWN as well.

One of the symptoms of this market-fundamentalism disease so prevalent in Washington is the constant pressure for more, more, more. Investors want their dividends, and as you can see, when no laws are in place to protect the public, companies like these banks they seem to worship will resort to any means to make that happen. Hence the predatory terminology; since it is clear they preyed upon the very customers it was assumed they had a fiduciary responsibility to, and that the public in return could actually trust, when as we are now well aware, the pathetic naked reality is none in fact ever existed.

Wthholding information from people in order to sell them a financial product that the bank stands only to profit from, and the sucker responding to the incessant solicitation stands only to lose from, essentially is a form of insider trading; and is illegal for obvious reasons. It would be like a doctor placing a bet that you will die under his care.

Still another, perhaps even more disturbing, detail persists. Factually processing the degree and scale all these common sense ethics were violated -- morality thrown by the wayside and laws retroactively rewritten any time it was convenient in the socially acceptable pursuit of profit -- somehow manage to pale in comparison if the allegations of open mockery and contempt of the citizenry prove true. Even a casual recollection of whatever bizarre occasional example you might recall being displayed on the news might lend support to such a conclusion in this world gone mad where agents from the government are apparently given carte blache to shoot even school children and the eldery with electricity over the simplest parking lot disagreement. Falsely propogated since childhood in the cleverly-branded Bill of Rights, it would seem no attempt to reclaim that aspect of our fabled heritage ever goes unpunished. Quickly revealed as temporary privileges, at best, and even then "snorted at by insiders"?

It's vomit-inducing.

Authors like James Galbraith remain critical for me over these recent years in better understanding the perpetual chaos we are observing and enduring here in America. It is shameful and outrageous the egregious degree of malfeasance these criminal conflcit-laden traitors have gotten away with, plain as the light of day, and the obvious decay of this nation is now unavoidably evident everywhere. Perhaps the reader may find some solace in the hinted undercurrent of the author's restrained disdain as we teter on the cusp of complete the decline to inevitably follow.

I wish I had time to read it again. For the interested, James K. Galbraith's websites offer many, many more lectures and interviews and dissertaions to explore.