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Mindful Economics: How the U.S. Economy Works, Why it Matters, and How it Could Be Different

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For decades now, economic history has been deliberately suppressed in colleges and universities by a group of very deluded academics who worship Ayn Rand and her ideology of selfishness. Margaret ("There is no society") Thatcher and Alan (It's not my fault) Greenspan are among her devotees. Also known as the Chicago School, they launched their first major master plan using Pinochet in Chile in 1977 to overthrow the democratically elected socialist Allende (on 9/11 of that year, by the way. It was a disaster but they called it a success. (Mission Accomplished!) Various members of these minions went on to loot national currencies from Wall Street, and indoctrinate our country into a embracing selfish greed and gains at the unjust expense of others.

Then we were hoodwinked into NAFTA and CAFTA. Banks went national and credit was released from it's cage with no training. Extremely important and effective legislation from the 1930's that protected us by keeping separate the various components of financial and insurance worlds were repealed. Crazy hyper-leveraged financial instruments made unsustainable debt levels a game of hot potato. What is worse though is that we are being mentally manipulated and tricked by opposite-speak everywhere we turn. We are being deprived even of unambiguous language to describe economic and political subjects.

"Free Markets" are anything but democratic, or "free" for that matter. When we say we want to bring democracy to a country, we really mean forcing them to sell us their resources at pennies on the dollar and stripping the country of its assets. It doesn't matter, Democrat or Republican, "Wealth Creation" is really "Debt Creation," and both parties will strive to protect financial paper, no matter how inflationary, at the expense of productive capital and the general prosperity of all Americans except a very few. (Ralph Nader is the only candidate who has for 40 years demonstrated that he is capable of resisting the puppet strings of Wall Street, and by the way, he is on the ballot in 45 states, most likely including yours. You have no more excuses!!)

Joel Magnuson's work is one of the greatest steps I have seen toward restoring economic literacy to America. This is a marvelous text that is easy to read and understand without oversimplifying anything. He tears the curtain from the Wizard's booth and reveals the humbug of micro and macro economic mathmatics, among so many other things. He offers lists of questions to ask the Chicago School instructors in class as each subject comes up. If you like making your professors and instructors actually earn their share of the higher education booty, you will love this feature. It is also reasonably priced, unlike most college texts that are obscenely over-priced in their anything-but-free market bookstores.

Buy extra copies of this book. You will want to lend them out and give them away as I do.

I am through half the book and find it a fascinating....attractive read, it's very easy..and simplifies a lot of the economic jargon and gives a big picture of the American economy......a fantastic book.

This book is the perfect counterbalance to mainstream economics. Magnuson provides real world information about the US economy and its history, and suggests ways to begin building real economic alternatives. The book contains much useful information and is accessible to people who have no background in economics. Mindful Economics is very informative and an interesting read.

This book is an excellent overview and critique of capitalism. But what is to replace it? What will a post-growth, non-profit Earth Community look like?

Magnuson is certainly correct in saying that we need new institutions that embody "mindful economics", where the ownership of major economic enterprises includes all stakeholders, not just investors bent on maximizing profits. But how do we get there? He suggests that we revitalize cooperatives and work from the bottom up, learning as we go.

Meanwhile the giant corporations are ruling the world, unchallenged except by a scattering of us progressives. A better approach would be to work toward political / economic democracy at all levels, from local to global. Yet, Magnuson, in common with most progressive economists these days, focuses mostly on relocalization.

He needs to write another book, to give us more guidance on specific national and global objectives. For example, what legislation is needed to make it more attractive to form cooperatives? So attractive, in fact, that leaders and employees will want to convert existing businesses and non-profits to cooperatives.

What kind of transnational institutions are needed to regulate businesses engaged in transnational trade or investment, and how should they be governed in this very diverse world? What specific kinds of regulations are needed? In particular, new kinds of semi-public organiztional models will be needed for large scale global enterprises, even if many of these enterprises need to be broken up or scaled down. Right now is the perfect time for new initiatives to regulate global finance in more democratic ways.

A major problem with constructing such a large scale, multi-faceted political and economic democracy is simply the time, energy, and expertise required of its participants. Most people, especially those just struggling to get by, can hardly cope now, let alone if they become stakeholders in dozens of enterprises, from local to global.

One way handle this would be to empower a broad array of knowledgeable advocacy organizations to directly represent individuals in legislative matters, letting individuals do the choosing and directing governmental financial support with each individual choice. In the US we have such organizations, but their support depends on the wealth of the participants and their influence is indirect, through campaign contributions and campaigns to mobilize people to contact legislators.

Let us hope than in the future, Magnuson will help develop a program with specific suggestions for political and economic democracy, from local to global, designed for a post-growth, post-capitalist world. The ideologies of communism and capitalism have failed, but they were grand in scope and captured people's imagination. The time is ripe for a new grand vision.

I agree with Frank, this is by far the best economics book I have ever read. The author lays everything bare, examining just about every aspect of American capitalism in a surprisingly concise book.

I took some econ courses a few years ago, and I was dismayed to see so much of the required curriculum devoted to how the economy is supposed to work in theory rather than how it actually functions in real life. PLus there's discussion at the end about how we can work to make the economy serve the people, rather than the other way around.

I'm looking forward to his next book for sure.

I was never very interested in economics, but the title of this book caught my eye. Mindful Economics is very clearly written and understandable for the average lay person. It explains each part of the US economy, giving enough history to help the reader truly understand why things are the way they are. It also explains how we are tied to the global economy. By maximining profits for investors, capitalism is working just as it is meant to work, the author asserts, but it does not benefit the great majority of the people. The best part is that Magnuson doesn't stop at explaining and critiquing our form of economy; he gives us hope that we can create alternative institutions to counteract the growing influence of mega-corporations which destroy our environment, cause great social anxiety and trample on human rights in the process of generating large returns for their investors. As Magnuson states, we cannot go on living the way we do. We have a choice to act deliberately to create systemic change or do nothing and wait for catastrophe.
If everyone read this book, and then gathered together in community forums to assess needs and resources, positive change could begin and slowly spread. A truly heartening concept!

Mr. Magnuson certainly did his homework writing this book! Each chapter honestly and clearly depicts the true nature of the US economy, how it works, and a path for improvement.

Mr. Magnuson also teaches college courses in Economics, and I had the honor of participating as his student. Mr. Magnuson truly understands economics and explains his knowledge, experience and education in the field clearly in this book using language anyone can understand.

Mr. Magnusons college courses are available online at Portland Community College at an affordable price. Be sure to enroll!

Good book. Had Prof. Magnuson as a teacher. The book has a good voice along with information and views of how the economy works. It has turned me around on how the government should work when it comes to economics.

This is such a great book -- a primer to the history and reality of our economy (as opposed to the idealizations of standard neoclassical intro textbooks). Mindful Economics should be required reading for every introductory course.

(which I think it is!). Gets a little slow, but a good introduction to Economics. The "solution" proposed at the end sounds a little naive....