Predator Nation: Corporate Criminals, Political Corruption, and the Hijacking of America

by Charles H. Ferguson

Charles H. Ferguson, who electrified the world with his Oscar-winning documentary Inside Job, now explains how a predator elite took over the country, step by step, and he exposes the networks of academic, financial, and political influence, in all recent administrations, that prepared the predators’ path to conquest.       Over the last several decades, the United States has undergone one of the most radical social and economic transformations in its history.  ·         Finance has become America’s dominant industry, while manufacturing, even for high technology industries, has nearly disappeared. ·         The financial sector has become increasingly criminalized, with the widespread fraud that caused the housing bubble going completely unpunished. ·         Federal tax collections as a share of GDP are at their lowest level in sixty years, with the wealthy and highly profitable corporations enjoying the greatest tax reductions. ·         Most shockingly, the United States, so long the beacon of opportunity for the ambitious poor, has become one of the world’s most unequal and unfair societies.  If you’re smart and a hard worker, but your parents aren’t rich, you’re now better off being born in Munich, Germany or in Singapore than in Cleveland, Ohio or New York. This radical shift did not happen by accident.       Ferguson shows how, since the Reagan administration in the 1980s, both major political parties have become captives of the moneyed elite.  It was the Clinton administration that dismantled the regulatory controls that protected the average citizen from avaricious financiers.  It was the Bush team that destroyed the federal revenue base with its grotesquely skewed tax cuts for the rich. And it is the Obama White House that has allowed financial criminals to continue to operate unchecked, even after supposed “reforms” installed after the collapse of 2008.      Predator Nation reveals how once-revered figures like Alan Greenspan and Larry Summers became mere courtiers to the elite.  Based on many newly released court filings, it details the extent of the crimes—there is no other word—committed in the frenzied chase for wealth that caused the financial crisis.  And, finally, it lays out a plan of action for how we might take back our country and the American dream.

Genres: Nonfiction, Economics, Audiobook, Politics

386 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 22, 2012

Reviews

[Malcolm Frawley · Rating 4 out of 5]

While I don't pretend to understand everything Ferguson writes about his exploration of how the rich & greedy are slowly destroying America, & the world, is sobering indeed. No-one of any real influence ended up in jail after the GFC; no-one of any influence was even forced to pay a penalty from his or her (almost entirely his) own pocket. The message transmitted by the authorities to the financial industries was that there would be no serious consequences no matter what frauds or other crimes were committed. Here in Australia the Royal Commission into the Banking Industry has recently illustrated how lacking in any kind of ethics or morality financial institutions have become. Until someone used to wearing a $1,500 pin-striped suit ends up wearing orange nothing much will change. The biggest frustration? Clinton, Bush Jnr, & Obama were all culpable when it came to stripping away regulations & failing to inflict adequate penalties for crimes committed. Activities that are now going off the charts with Trump in charge. Thought-provoking, if not terrifying, reading.

[Pat · Rating 5 out of 5]

Though I learned much about dynamic forces that brought our country almost to its knees financially in 2008 I learned even more about the duopoly that is the two party system bought by a few thousand people of immense wealth through the corrupt practices that seem to be the new norm in American government on local and federal levels since the Reagan administration. Ferguson is well qualified to write on this subject," Predator Nation" which accompanies his academy award winning film "Inside Job". A must read for anyone wanting a more clear understanding of our and our childrens' political environment.

[Brian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Should be required reading for anyone who wants to keep their U.S. citizenship.

After reading Johnson and Kwak's 13 Bankers and Taibbi's Griftopia, I was already informed of much of the causes of the 2008 financial meltdown, but am deeply troubled (but not surprised) at how much the financial sector has corrupted higher education.

[Megan]

It's a fascinating topic and seems well-written, but I don't have enough background in finance to understand its arguments. This book doesn't try to help the less informed, which is okay, I can respect brainy types. If I can tolerate enough background books to bring my understanding up to this level I'll try this book again.

[Holly · Rating 3 out of 5]

No reflection on this book as to why I didn't finish. I just came off two similar books and couldn't take more of the same. It didn't grip me enough to listen to a third take on a similar topic, but it probably would've if I'd hit it first. Made it about 20% in.

[Robyn John · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very insightful to the problems that hinder our society behind the curtain. Banksters have taken the country to roost on and have left everyone else pointing fingers, none of them actually pointing at the robber barons of the 21st century. Wake up America, everything is pay to play.

[Jack · Rating 3 out of 5]

Names names. Leaves one with the feeling that there is little we can do but watch the unraveling of the American dream. What a lousy legacy to leave for our children.

[Sherry Lynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

disturbing. Every American should read this.