Jeff Madrick: Decline of America

A lecture and book signing by noted economist Jeff Madrick "Greed will always be with us," he writes, "but it rises and falls with the times." In Age of Greed: The Triumph of Finance and the Decline of America, Madrick brings a narrative history of how greed bred America's economic ills over the past forty years—and in so doing tells us how we got to the crisis of 2008 and to the perilous situation we now face. He talks about the impact of the 1970s—a decade of punishingly high inflation and unemployment.. . . . Madrick addresses how tax and economic policies contributed to the nation's ills. A 50-year-old, free-market economic theory was resurrected to justify weakening or eliminating government regulation and social programs. Businesses organized aggressive, well-financed lobbying efforts to support such views. The single-minded pursuit and justification of self-interest has risen to levels of increasing destructiveness. Age of Greed is a history of this era, told through the lives of the individuals most responsible for it. . . . .Jeff Madrick is a professor of economics at Cooper Union, contributor to The New York Review of Books and former economics columnist at the New York Times. Event at Cooper Union Rose Auditorium June 2, 2011. Camera Joe Friendly

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• economy
• speculation
• derivatives
• doom
• crash
• market
• deregulation
• Glass
• Steagall
• depression
• financial
• banks
• wall
• street

[angelfly72]

I saw this man on C-SPAN2's BookTV at 5 am this morning. (No, I wasn't just coming in after a night of partying; I fell asleep with the t.v. on last night. I live a very dull life.) I was fascinated by the clarity of his explanation of an extremely complex economic crisis that is extraordinarily rooted in our history. Yes, I am buying his book. Everyone who can read the 12th grade level, in my opinion, should own it and refer to it often.

[88roro11]

fuck big government...

[capt251978]

@radicalsquare People are busy!!! I mean hell man, Jersey shore is coming on in 30 minutes.

[gritzngravee]

No mention of cutting defense spending. Billions wasted on destroying other countries, brilliant.

[danboy524]

and on the other hand, add this to the greed equation:

you tube ; elaborate welfare housing project

there simply must be a middle some road,why cant humans find it,animals can. Preay in the animal kingdom drink at the same watering holes as their hunter. yet they co exist.man takes one road, greed, on one end of the spectrum or the other. Thereofre, animals are the more intelligent species between the two !

[kidspatula1]

Its an extremely important history lesson. few are those it appears heed it's reality, in forming the future.

[wesrackley]

Thanks. Currently reading. It's putting past reads into a fresh and more meaningful perspective. I very highly recommend setting aside time for this book.

[tedhoney]

Lots of people predicted this crash since 1999 2000 at least I have been reading about it. 

[radicalsquare]

238 views? Very sad. Thanks for posting.