Customer Reviews

The twenty-year century: Essays on economics and public finance

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I gave away over 1000 books from my collection in the last year, keeping those most important. I still have this book. I have not reviewed this book in 30 years (wow, has it been that long?), but a key fact from this book has been in my mind ever since. That the US became the leading nation and power since WWII because it was the last nation standing after WWII, the rest having had their infrastructure destroyed in the war.

When this book was written then, we were 20 years into economic superiority, with a population that had created the myth that that superiority was due to the superior American character and ingenuity, rather than not having our infrastructure bombed and having the natural resources available to build up the manufacturing sector, and also importantly, being the beneficiary of immigration of the most educated from Europe, before, during and after the Nazi's generation of terror.

Rohatyn's position is that this superiority was temporary, and the U.S. would not maintain that superiority as other nations recovered from WWII destruction, and the American myth of superiority was tested.

I'll be needing to review this book again from the purview of 30 years of hindsight to determine whether his unheeded warnings accurately predicted this country's decline into abject mediocrity.

If you find reading books on economies, this is a must read. I had the pleasure of reading it when it came out and find it odd there are no reviews. So I will submit one and recommend this book highly.
I bring this up after a conversation regarding his newest offering. Read this on as well.