Economic Puppetmasters: Lessons from the Halls of Power

Description

Having left Wall Street over a year ago I still have a place in my heart for the financial markets. I find that my focus in reading is increasingly turning towards history, the issue of worldwide standards of living and how economic growth in various parts of the world varies so dramatically. Economic Puppetmasters by Lawrence Lindsey, the current economics advisor to the President, is an excellent book for those that are interested in (1) economics (2) the history of monetary policies in various economic areas such as Japan, Europe and the United States and finally, (3) the inextricable link between politics and the economy.I was going to rank this book a solid four star book because it provided some really good analysis. However, after thinking about it for a day or so, I am deducting a full star from the book (a three star ranking) due to the partisanship rhetoric and a complete lack of attention to the national debt. In my opinion the real value of this book is Lindsey's explanation of why Japan has been in an economic funk for 10 + years. Another element of excellent insight on his part is that he provides readers with an excellent explanation of the pros and cons of the Euro and difficulties that will likely occur in the next ten years from the establishment of such a central bank / currency. The book provides readers with a great history lesson into various monetary regimes.In my opinion Mr. Lindsey, like many financial authors, is HIGHLY deficient in one key area. He never talks about the U.S. national debt and how it has gone from $960 billion to $5.6 trillion in 20 years. The explosive growth in the national debt has caused growth rates to be overstated because they are unsustainable. At the end of the day you have to pay interest on the debt and you have to repay the debt. What about the fact that America will go from 7 working people per retiree to 2.5 within 20 years? This will cause social benefits to soar with fewer workers to pay for it? But Mr. Lindsey doesn't feel this is important. Instead he takes shots at previous administrations for their "deficient views." You can learn a good amount from reading the book but Mr. Lindsey and the rest of the Politicians / economists disgust me because their desire to get re-elected is going to leave a nation bankrupt or heavily indebted within 20 years. Nothing short of a tragedy.Most of my reviews are in business / economics and I encourage people to read them, whether here on Amazon or at my personal website. If you are interested in economic history book I would encourage everyone to read The Worldly Philosophers by Robert Heilbroner since it is more international in scope and deals with the lives and times of the most famous economists in history. If you are interested in economic development I would encourage you to read Hernando DeSoto's Mystery of Capital but note his lack of focus on corruption in certain countries. A great general business book is by the management guru Peter Drucker entitled "The Essential Drucker."