The Big Ripoff: How Big Business and Big Government Steal Your Money [Hardcover]

Timothy P. Carney (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 11, 2006

Praise for THE BIG RIPOFF

"Politicians like to say that government is on the side of the little guy. But with impressive documentation and persuasive examples, Tim Carney shows how government power and regulation are typically used to assist the powerful."
-Paul A. Gigot Editorial Page Editor, the Wall Street Journal

"Exposes the dirty little secret of American politics: how big businesses work with statist politicians to diminish the prosperity and freedom of consumers, taxpayers, and entrepreneurs. Carney employs top-notch writing ability, passion for liberty, and understanding of economics to demolish the myth that big business is a foe of big government. Everyone who seeks to understand who really benefits from big government should read this book, as should anyone who still believes that the interventionist state benefits the average person."
-Congressman Ron Paul U.S. House of Representatives, 14th District of Texas

"Small entrepreneurial businesses are the backbone success of our great economy. They are the biggest job and wealth creators. Is that why big corpocratic behemoth firms collude with big government for a liberal agenda of higher taxes and overregulation that will punish the small risk-takers? Tim Carney's new book describes how anti-business big business can be."
-Lawrence Kudlow Host of CNBC's Kudlow & Company

"Tim Carney explodes the myth that big business and big government are natural opponents. All too often, as he points out, they're both engaged in a common enterprise: picking your pocket."
-Ramesh Ponnuru Senior Editor, National Review

"A romping tour de force of the love affair between big business and big government from Teddy Roosevelt and the Robber Barons to Enron and the Kyoto Treaty. Indispensable for understanding how government regulation really works."

-Donald Devine Grewcock Professor of Political Science, Bellevue University

"Every CEO in America should read this book today, issue new directives to their bureaucrat-appeasing Washington lobbyist tomorrow, and join in the fight for economic liberalization."
-Fred L. Smith, Jr. Founder and President, Competitive Enterprise Institute

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

When it comes to the corporations that dominate the US economy, says Carney, there's no difference between Big Business Republicans and Tax-and-Spend Democrats. No matter who's in charge, Big Government and Big Business team up to create a quasi-fascist collective designed to extract maximum revenue from the common citizen. Carney has a host of facts to back up this theory, covering the history of Big Business and Big Government, the tradition of corporate welfare in America, profiles of such private offenders as Phillip Morris and Enron, and the "green" cheat of "environmentalism for profit." Even the heavy taxes and regulation under which large corporations operate is, paradoxically, largely to their benefit, in Carney's view; such impediments serve as barriers to competition, keeping out rivals and allowing monopolies and oligopolies to thrive-and the extra expense, in what becomes a familiar pattern, is simply passed on to the consumer. Though Carney's dire prognosis seems grim, this is an absorbing look at the disconcertingly cozy (and profitable) relationship that has developed between regulator and regulated in America.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review

1^st place book winner of the 2008 Templeton Enterprise Award

"...so good that you might even consider putting it under the tree of the liberals on your Christmas list....they will likely find it fascinating how big business uses government to its advantage. Furthermore, they will likely find The Big Ripoff hard to put down due to Carney's compelling style of writing.... Carney smashes the conventional wisdom that big business is inherently pro-free market and anti-government."—from "Santa Government" by David Hogberg (American Spectator, December 15, 2006)

"This book should be read by every Northern Virginia taxpayer for a chapter aptly titled "You Get Taxed, They Get Rich" in which Carney illustrates this dynamic by examining how former Gov. Mark Warner pushed through the largest tax increase in the commonwealth’s history. Warner, now a presidential hopeful, was helped by the state’s top business leaders, who themselves spent more than $7 million lobbying for higher taxes, instead of the other way around." (The Washington DC Examiner)

"Bashing big business is traditionally a left-wing indulgence, but it need not be. Political reporter Timothy Carney, a small-government conservative, takes up the task with relish in the "The Big Ripoff." Along the way, he produces a spirited and eminently readable indictment of the unsavory alliance between corporate and congressional America." (The Wall Street Journal, July 29, 2006)

"...makes a good case that the American people might be better served with less taxpayer subsidization and governmental protection of big business." (The Boston Globe)

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 285 pages
• Publisher: Wiley (July 11, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0471789070
• ISBN-13: 978-0471789079
• Product Dimensions: 6.4 x 1 x 9.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #673,719 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Tim Carney is a columnist and a reporter in Washington, D.C., with an expertise in rooting out just who stands to profit from politicians's latest "reform" proposals. Tim's first book, The Big Ripoff: How Big Business and Big Government Steal Your Money, won the Templeton Enterprise Award in 2008 from the Intercollegiate Studies Institute, and the Lysander Spooner Award for the "best book on liberty" in 2006.

Trained under veteran columnist Robert Novak, Tim is currently the lobbying editor and a columnist at the Washington Examiner. Tim, one of four boys, was born in Greenwich Village and grew up in Pelham, New York.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A wake up call August 10, 2006

By An investment book reader

Format:Hardcover

An important book, particularly before election time. Carney uncovers the millions (maybe billions) of dollars that go directly to big business, compliments of our elected officials (of both flavors), and how big business lobbies government to protect its interests at the expense of smaller business and individuals. It's one thing for government to tax people to provide for the needy, but I don't see how Boeing can ever be described as "needy." Maybe government gets too much money from taxpayers, and politicians need a reminder that they are there to serve and protect -- individuals. Not to take our money to give to the likes of Boeing and ADM and other big companies! You will be shocked, as we all should be. Hopefully this book will inspire some action on the part of voters.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Connecting the dots August 5, 2006

By J. Butler

Format:Hardcover

For those who always thought business was a supporter of free-market policies - get ready to have your eyes opened. Mr. Carney does a great job of connecting the dots between polices that seem, on the surface anti-business, but instead help one or two major institutions (usually ones that have a long standing relationship with those in power). After reading this book it makes you want to standup - go over to a window and yell "I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore!!"

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars I suggest everyone should read this before they vote in the next election. October 31, 2006

By Carl Valeri

Format:Hardcover

Many times I complain when I see a large portion of my paycheck stripped of income. Occasionally I declare in a frustrated tone, "where is my money going?". As shown in Timothy P. Carney's book The Big Rip off, our money lands in the pockets of big business from our government through our tax dollars.

Before reading The Big Ripoff, I discovered the largest supporter of the Kyoto Protocol was Enron. I began wondering if this was good for our environment, or was it just making a select few rich. But not having the time to research the subject I let my curiosity simmer.

Carney has taken time to research the age old question "what does the government do with my tax dollars?". Carney will open your eyes to many corporate welfare programs and abuses of eminent domain by politicians for the benefit of companies. Furthermore, you will learn that big companies are the most adamant supporters of more government regulation because it restricts smaller less powerful companies from entering their field.

I suggest everyone should read this before they vote in the next election. You will learn that the piles of cash the government gives to big corporations is not determined by the political party, but by the political system itself.

If you wish to discover how and why your hard earned tax dollars are sent to these large companies, you need to read this book. You will be shocked in what you learn. You will also be delighted to find a bibliography helping you discover resources for your own research.