James K. Galbraith

Galbraith's book "The Predator State" didn't make a great audio book. It's got depth and details, and you really need to take the time to pause and understand what he's presenting, i.e., to put the book down and think about his statements. Otherwise, it's just background noise, and you find you're not really absorbing what he's talking about. If the subject grabs you, I suggest you pick up the print (or e-book) version, and put some time aside to absorb it. As an audio book, unless you've got an excellent background in free market economics, it's too challenging.… (mehr)

This book was a dangerous but small dose of self-affirmation. I'm even more convinced now of the folly of the Eurozone (the common currency, not the Union necessarily), the corruption of the ECB and IMF (and the ineptitude of their leaders), and the criminality of their attacks on Greek sovereignty on behalf of creditors.

Many of the principles Graeber outlines in Debt are live in color here in Galbraith's insider account of the crisis, including the fact that markets can only be sustained when the state, which formed the market in the first place, is stronger than the market and its participants. The Eurozone does not meet this essential criterion and is therefore destined to change materially - smaller, weaker financial sector; unified tax system that facilitates flows from surplus to deficit areas; a strong central bank focused on prosperity rather than servitude to the financial sector, etc. In short, its leaders will, in Galbraith's words, come to understand "that the goal of economic policy cannot be to satisfy the gods of the bond market. It is to provide economic opportunity-full employment, education, health care, and decent pensions-to the people," or it will continue to collapse.




… (mehr)