Reckless!
How Debt, Deregulation, and Dark Money Nearly Bankrupted America (And How We Can Fix It!)
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- $11.99
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
As one of only eight senators to vote against bank deregulation, Byron Dorgan warned America that a free-market system left unchecked is like a driving a car at ninety miles per hour without brakes. With the recent financial collapse having proven him right, Dorgan exposes this modern-day carnival of greed and calls out the corporate executives who reap millions and even billions as a "reward" for self-interest and mismanagement. More poignantly, he argues that public officials we elect to represent the best interests of the people have sold us out, as government has become a partner to Big Oil, Big Media, and Big Pharma.
In his prairie-populist voice peppered with incisive wit, Dorgan argues that we must rescue the economy from the influence of financial conglomerates and power brokers, and to hold our public officials accountable for regulating the economy.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Was it Freddie Mac in the conservatory with the predatory loan? The government in the billiard room with the deregulation? Four June books on the financial crisis round up the usual suspects.Reckless! How Debt, Deregulation, and Dark Money Nearly Bankrupted America... And How We Can Fix It!Sen. Byron L. Dorgan. St. Martin's/Dunne, (288p) In this scathing indictment of the Bush administration and the excesses of big business and corporate gluttony during the past eight years, North Dakota Senator Dorgan (D-N.Dak.) chronicles how Americans' faith in government has been undermined by a lack of regulation and untrammeled greed. This former state tax commissioner takes wide aim, lambasting Bush and Cheney, financial institutions, the subprime mortgage mess, the current budget deficit, the Iraq War and war profiteering, big oil and what he regards as a flawed health-care system and grossly inequitable tax system. Dorgan's arguments are convincing and credible, but his recounting of such issues as the mismanagement of Wall Street firms, the Bush regime's mishandling of the Iraq War and the Bernard Madoff scandal seem late to the game and add little fresh analysis. Dorgan's decidedly Democratic approach to repairing Americans' "broken trust" is to increase regulation, police Wall Street and to tax the wealthy. Readers who can wade through his rehashing of wrongdoing will find his practical solutions persuasive and in alignment with the new administration.
