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The Corruption of Capitalism: A strategy to rebalance the global economy and restore sustainable growth 1St edition by Richard Duncan (2009) Perfect Paperback Perfect Paperback – December 14, 2009

4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 33 ratings

The global economy is in crisis. The financial system has failed, international trade has contracted sharply and unemployment has soared. Only a multi-trillion dollar government intervention is preventing a worldwide breakdown on the scale of the Great Depression. In The Corruption of Capitalism, Richard Duncan provides a clear and comprehensive explanation of how this calamity came about. He also offers a strategy to permanently resolve it. The book is divided into three parts. Part I describes the present state of the global economy and the government life support keeping it afloat. Part II details the long series of US policy mistakes responsible for this disaster. Part III outlines the actions required to restructure the US economy and restore global economic growth. Capitalism has been corrupted by paper money and debt. Sustainable prosperity will require a return to economic orthodoxy. This book maps the way back.
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4.2 out of 5 stars
33 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Reviewed in the United States on March 13, 2010
Well, as Jack Webb used to say, Richard Duncan, in his new book, keeps providing "just the facts, ma'am," relentlessly, almost morbidly, page after page. In so doing, he limns the outlines of some terrible financial/economic policies carried out by U.S. leaders that have resulted over time in what he terms the "New Depression." It makes for sobering reading.

For 25 years, the Bretton Woods model for the world's financial system held, but with President Johnson insisting, with the urgings of his Council of Economic Advisers (Arthur Okun, Gardner Ackley), on a "guns and butter" fiscal policy as being a workable solution to his political ends (victory in Vietnam and launching the War on Poverty), Bretton Woods began unraveling and reached its culmination under President Nixon who was forced by circumstances (and his own unenlightened policies) to end the convertibility of the dollar into gold in 1971. What could have saved the world from this lamentable action? As Duncan writes (p. 87), "To preserve the international monetary system, the U.S. should have reduced government spending, increased interest rates, and induced a recession." Good luck with that.

(Ironically, that's the prescription the IMF has imposed on lesser nations for decades now when they had debt problems, as Duncan is at pains to point out.)

Duncan recommends, among other things, a major restructuring (and downsizing) of U.S. financial institutions, including the restoration of a clear separation between investment banking and commercial banking, strict and close supervision of derivatives trading, and massive deficit spending by the U.S. government to develop a new technology-driven industrial base. Without drastic action, Duncan argues, all will be lost, albeit slowly, as in Japan.

One comes upon the astonishing statement toward the conclusion of his book (p. 205) with regard to monetary policy that the U.S. government should be "(blocked) from increasing the money supply. . . or at least (be) strictly limit(ed in) the amount of money (it) is allowed to create. For instance the money supply could be increased in line with population growth, and attempts to avoid recessions by increasing the money supply would not be allowed. . . . A central bank would not be required, as there would be no monetary policy to conduct. . . ." When he wrote that paragraph, Mr. Duncan obviously was in a mood to take no prisoners.

Readers will immediately think of Rep. Ron Paul's (D., TX) current crusade against the Fed. But I remember when Chairman Wright Patman (D., TX) of the House Banking Committee succeeded in getting Congress in 1974 to pass H. Con. Res. 133, which was aimed at exactly the same target. H. Con. Res. 133, later incorporated into a statute, directed the Fed to set money and credit growth goals "commensurate with" ordinary growth expectations, and to report back semiannually on its success, or lack thereof in reining in money growth. This is the origin of the present-day dog-and-pony show that brings the Fed chairman before Congress to report on whatever that suits the Fed to report on. The actual statutory requirement for setting boundaries for growth of the monetary and credit aggregates lapsed years ago at the quiet urging of then-Chairman Greenspan, and died without a whimper of complaint from Congress. Been there, done that.

Duncan deserves credit for suggesting reforms offering a way out of what seems intractable problems the U.S. government has created for its citizens. The last sentence in the chapter on recommended reforms provides guidance for those of us who do not expect a deus ex machina or anything other than continuing woes. "Therefore, while working to achieve a benevolent outcome, it would also be prudent to prepare for a pernicious one. In economic upheavals down through the centuries, gold, land, and a broadly diversified investment portfolio have preserved many a fortune."

In what seems to be an aside, Duncan notes that the IMF has (apparently limitless) authority to create SDRs, and that these SDRs could fulfill the role of an international currency. When one juxtaposes this notion with the unenviable record of the U.S. government's leaders since 1960, it could lead one to wonder whether the world (literally) might not be better off if national economic/financial decisions were made from a global perspective by "unelected bureaucrats" parked at the IMF or Brussels. Multinational governance is pretty much happening in the European Union, and as much as criticism is leveled against the meritocrats who are now running the place, they at least have not stumbled into the kinds of crises that Messrs. Greenspan & Co., political appointees all, have engineered over here. Of course, there is always the issue of authority. Americans traditionally are loathe to give over their autonomy to such "unelected bureaucrats," but Americans also have shown they can be bought (cf. Sens. Nelson and Landrieu). Whatever, Duncan and myself are in agreement that the present American political system doesn't work.

In conclusion, this book is a worthy successor to Duncan's previous book, "The Dollar Crisis," and complements Michael J. Panzner's "Financial Armageddon" and, of course, Reinhart and Rogoff's grim read, "This Time Is Different."

The publisher, CLSA books, Hong Kong, is new to me. It would have been more than a good idea to have included an index, and for some reason it wasn't thought necessary.
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Reviewed in the United States on May 30, 2010
Richard Duncan's "The Corruption of Capitalism" is the very best business book I have read in the last 12 months (at least 20 books). He accurately and succintly describes the past, present, and future of our troubled economy. He also points out (only one I've found to do so) our "Founding Fathers" greatest mistake in writing the Constitution: "They forgot to add TERM LIMITS for our politicians!" Since as a result, our politicians spend more time/energy preparing for their next election than doing their job; which makes money-giving Lobbyists totally in control of our government. Hence, the mess we're currently in will not abate; it will only get worse as most politicians will simply not do the right thing for the country, only themselves! Mr. Duncan offers sound solutions but realizes that change (until a catastrophe) most likely will not occur. As a direct result of reading this book, I now know what to expect and what to do; and I truly hope he writes another book soon so I can learn more in order to navigate the storms ahead!
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Reviewed in the United States on July 14, 2011
This is really three books in one. The first is an update of his first book The Dollar Crisis in which the break down of Bretton Woods leading to the going off the gold standard for US currency results in world wide credit bubbles, including the one that caused the 2008 New Depression. The second "book" is focused on the corruption of the US financial system, in particular the discontinuation of many important regulations...In this section he also outlines how to make the financial system "too regulated to fail". The third "book" is his plan to correct the profound imbalances in the US economy. Here he recommends the government (!) use trillions of dollars to invest in "industries of the 21st century"...he sees this as the only path the US can take to recover its former greatness...very depressing, too say the least, as the likelihood of an unimaginable level of corruption by the federal government is all too easy to imagine, given how TARP, QE1 and QE2 were diverted to the President's friends and political allies.
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Reviewed in the United States on February 17, 2011
Everybody knows that the cause of the 2008/2009 crisis was an excess of credit, mainly in the housing market. But no where I had found such a detailed and sound rational explanaiton in sequence of how all the pieces started building from the 80's to finally reach the size of the bubble that burst. There are over 50 detailed charts that show it perfectly clear. A must read to anyone that would like to understand beyond what everybody reads on newspapers.
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Reviewed in the United States on April 23, 2014
I have always been an admirer of Richard's work.

With an understandable language, Richard goes back to the past to explain how the global monetary system evolved, what are its flaws and how the problems can be solved.

Incredible book, i really enjoyed reading, i didn't feel the time passing.

Highly recommended!
Reviewed in the United States on January 30, 2010
A must read to get current analysis of the world's current economic condition. Great concise explaination of how we got into current Crisis and suggestions on how the United States can emerge from this massive problem. Unfortunatly the political will from our leaders and electorate will cause us considerable decline.
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Lukinho197012
5.0 out of 5 stars Dal Capitalismo allo Statismo
Reviewed in Italy on August 17, 2020
Dalla fine degli anni 60 del secolo scorso il mondo ha assistito ai seguenti cambiamenti:
1. Fine dello standard aureo e inizio dello standard dell'oro
2. Globalizzazione con conseguenti tassi di inflazione bassissimi causati dal ricorso al lavoro molto economico di paesi in via di sviluppo
3. Creazione di valuta in enormi quantità
Questi tre fenomeni hanno creato un gigantesco deficit commerciale negli Stati Uniti e di conseguenza un enorme surplus finanziario con l'ingresso in America di miliardi di dollari dai paesi esportatori (Cina in testa, ma non solo)
Il surplus finanziario ha generato due fenomeni allarmanti negli USA:
1. la de-industrializzazione
2. la crescita incontrollata della finanza e del debito pubblico e privato
Pertanto benché siamo stati testimoni del più grande progresso della storia dell'uomo, tale progresso non è sostenibile in quanto è fondato su una quantità inimmaginabile di debito
Dal 2007 l'economia e la finanza sono sulle spalle degli stati che si sono indebitati per salvare il sistema economico e su quello delle banche centrali che hanno "stampato" inimmaginabili quantità di valuta per salvare il sistema finanziario.
Pertanto siamo passati dal capitalismo (in cui i mezzi di produzione sono di proprietà privata) a economie gestite pienamente dagli stati (stasimo)
Come se ne potrebbe uscire?
Ci sono tre scenari:
1. Smettere di aiutare l'economia e tornare all'oro. Questo scenario porterebbe sicuramente ad una nuova Grande Depressione
2. Seguire il modello Giapponese (che da quasi 30 anni è in recessione dopo il grande boom degli anni 80). Questo scenario è quello fino ad ora adottato. Stiamo tenendo in vita l'economia cercando di gonfiare ulteriormente la bolla che si sta rompendo in più punti. Si potrà andare avanti, ma prima o poi si arriverà ad una nuova Grande Depressione
3. Investire enormi quantità di denaro in nuove tecnologie, quali: energia solare, nanotecnologie, bioingegneria e biotecnologie
Il libro è stato scritto nel 2009 ma è ancora molto attuale e getta luce sugli avvenimenti economico/finanziari degli ultimi 100 anni con chiarezza e semplicità
L'inglese è facile da capire e non ci sono tecnicismi che ne rendono pesante la lettura
NinjaReader
3.0 out of 5 stars Good but go read more books to form your opinion
Reviewed in Brazil on September 26, 2017
Good book, recommended for a reading, but do not take it as gospel. Go read more stuff, left and right the political spectrum to form your own opinion. Read Peter Schiff and George Soros :).
iza
5.0 out of 5 stars business
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 8, 2010
All those interested in money should read this book. Although it is a difficult reading, it is worth the effort. I went to a Rich Dad conference and listened to Richard Duncan's lecture on this book and I found it amazing. It explains why we are in the actual crisis.