Bad Money Reckless Finance, Failed Politics, and the Global Crisis of American Capitalism Hardback - 2008

by Kevin Phillips

The bestsellingauthor revealshow the U.S.financial sectorhas hijacked oureconomy and putAmerica's globalfuture at risk

In American Theocracy, Kevin Phillips warned us of the perilousinteraction of debt, financial recklessness, and the increasing costof scarce oil. The current housing and mortgage debacle is proofonce more of Phillips's prescience, and only the first harbinger of anational crisis. In Bad Money, Phillips describes the consequences ofour misguided economic policies, our mounting debt, our collapsinghousing market, our threatened oil, and the end of Americandomination of world markets. America's current challenges (andfailures) run striking parallels to the decline of previous leadingworld economic powers especially the Dutch and British. Globaloverreach, worn-out politics, excessive debt, and exhausted energyregimes are all chilling signals that the United States is crumblingas the world superpower.

'Bad money' refers to a new phenomenon in waywardmegafinance the emergence of a U.S. economy that is globallydependent and dominated by hubris-driven financial services.Also 'bad' are the risk miscalculations and strategic abuses of newmultitrillion-dollar products such as asset-backed securities andthe lure of buccaneering vehicles like hedge funds. Finally, theU.S. dollar has been turned into bad money as it has weakenedand become vulnerable to the world's other currencies. In all theseways, 'bad' finance has failed the American people and pointedU.S. capitalism toward a global crisis. Bad Money is the perfect follow-up to Phillips's last book, whose dire warnings are now provingfrighteningly accurate.