The Audacity of Greed: Free Markets, Corporate Thieves, and the Looting of America

by Jonathan Tasini

"Jonathan Tasini is one of the country's premier labor writers. Not just a reporter, he brings a wealth of firsthand, frontline, experience to every issue he tackles."— Barbara Ehrenreich "This is must reading for anyone who wants to know how we got us into this financial mess—and what it will take to get out of it."— Katrina vanden Heuvel "In order to comprehend the entirety of our nation’s economic system, an understanding of working-class Americans and the labor movement is absolutely essential. Nobody understands that better than Jonathan Tasini. His writing is infused with a thorough knowledge of not only labor, but how corporate greed is at the root of the recent economic collapse.”— James P. Hoffa, General President, International Brotherhood of Teamsters "Jonathan Tasini dares to utter the words that are still not said in "polite" The Greed! The Theft! No, greed is not good. Enriching oneself by taking the money of others and leaving them that's theft. Tasini shows us the economy as we need to see it-from the perspective of people who work." —George Lakoff,author of The Political Mind and Don't Think of an Elephant! Over the past quarter century, we have lived through the greatest looting of wealth in human history. While billions of dollars streamed into the pockets of a few elites in the corporate and economic class, the vast majority of citizens have lived through a period of falling wages, disappearing pensions, and dwindling bank accounts—all of which lead to the personal debt crisis that lies at the root of the current financial meltdown. This "audacity of greed" was legally blessed by the ethos of the "free market," a phony marketing phrase that covered up the fleecing of the American public. In The Audacity of Greed , Jonathan Tasini examines the reasons and exposes the people responsible for the looting of America—from Wall Street executives who funded their lavish lifestyles at the public's expense to the politicians who let it happen—arguing that we need a cultural and philosophical revolution that punctures the fable of market fundamentalism and, by doing so, values the contributions made by ordinary Americans throughout the economy. Jonathan Tasini is executive director of the Labor Research Association. The longtime president of the National Writers Union, he was the lead plaintiff in Tasini vs. The New York Times , the landmark electronic rights case that took on the corporate media's assault on the rights of freelance authors. In 2006 he ran against Hillary Clinton for the Democratic nomination for the US Senate in New York. He has written about labor and economics for a variety of publications including The New York Times Magazine , The Washington Post , Los Angeles Times , and The Wall Street Journal , and has appeared on CNBC and Fox News.

220 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2009

Reviews

[AC]

I have not read this particular book, and cannot comment on it. My reason for logging it here is because Tasini has written a pamphlet on the deficit/Social Security issue which he has just put up on scribd and which is getting some positive attention today from market observers (e.g., from Barry Ritholtz: http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2010/11/...

http://www.scribd.com/doc/43874970/It...
(This piece, too, is more rant than reason - and I don't agree with all of it, by any stretch...)

The best on-going coverage of this issue is in Dean Baker's blog: http://www.cepr.net/index.php/beat-th...

The 'Social Security crisis' is essentially a sham (on this, Tasini is correct). The fiscal crisis bearing down upon us is due primarily to Medicare and Medicaid -- that is, to spiraling health care costs - as Social Security itself is fully funded for the next 25 years and is only slightly in deficit after that. The US is running a massive fiscal deficit, of course, but most of that -- for example, much of the current FY $1.6 trillion deficit -- is the result of the US Treasury funneling trillions of dollars to the banks and to other financial intermediaries to cover loses incurred from speculating with cheap money during the previous boom (2003-2007) -- that is, to ensuring that they don't have to actually *take* any loses. In other words, their loses have been shifted onto the balance sheet of the taxpayer, who will now have to cover them by shredding the social safety net.

This, of course, is the old IMF formula, and is what is being asked of Ireland, Greece, Spain -- and so forth.

This is the "hard landing" scenario.

And hence the title of Tasani's pamphlet.

The alternative is to inflate away our debts by stimulating nominal GDP growth -- which is what Bernanke and the Fed are trying to do. This will put people to work, lowering unemployment, while inflating prices of many essentials (including food and energy and the propping up of asset prices: stocks and housing, if not bonds) -- which means lowering US living standards across the board, but in an orderly fashion (at least). This is the "soft landing" scenario -- provided the inflation is contained.

There is no third choice.

Congress is dedicated, it seems, largely to pursing assignations with minors via internet boards, or with otherwise greasing their palms; while the military prepares for American Triumphalism version 3.0, with the Coming of Beck, and Bristol, and Palinism...

And I'm looking for a slowboat (-- or make that a fast one --) to China.... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ek2xzZ...