Jimmy Stewart Is Dead: Ending the World's Ongoing Financial Plague with Limited Purpose Banking

Jimmy Stewart Is Dead: Ending the World's Ongoing Financial Plague with Limited Purpose Banking

by Laurence J. Kotlikoff
Jimmy Stewart Is Dead: Ending the World's Ongoing Financial Plague with Limited Purpose Banking

Jimmy Stewart Is Dead: Ending the World's Ongoing Financial Plague with Limited Purpose Banking

by Laurence J. Kotlikoff

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Overview

Make no mistake, Jimmy Stewart, the honest, trustworthy banker (a.k.a. George Bailey) in It's a Wonderful Life, is dead. And so is his small-town, virtuous bank—Bailey Savings and Loan. Today, a very different financial movie, It's a Horrible Mess, is playing on Main Street. This economic horror show—produced by Wall Street and directed by Congress—is no Christmas story, but a tale of pervasive and massive financial malfeasance that has devastated the lives of millions of people around the globe.

Though our financial system lies in tatters and economic misery stalks the land, the horrible mess is far from over. Uncle Sam, who aided and abetted the financial fraud, is working overtime to restore a financial system that's virtually designed for hucksters, that no one can trust, and that towers on a bed of sand.

Uncle Sam's strategy is Wall Street's—borrow short, place risky bets, make financial commitments you can't possibly keep, and let no one see precisely what you're doing. The sums involved are enormous and have leveraged us and our children far beyond our capacity to pay. Sam's bluff has put our economy at grave economic risk. Without the right financial fix, the global financial plague will strike again with even more devastating force.

Written by Laurence Kotlikoff—one of the world's most respected economists—Jimmy Stewart Is Dead describes in lively, but deadly serious terms the big con underlying the big game: namely the web of interconnected financial, political, and regulatory misconduct that culminated in financial meltdown and brought us to our economic knees. It's a tragic story that starts with our economic disaster and where it's headed, describes its causes, identifies its architects, and then shows how to fix the system for good.

Throughout the book, Kotlikoff not only surveys the disheartening events surrounding our economic collapse, but also conveys their deeper economic meaning, particularly the extraordinary danger of maintaining the financial status quo. Along the way, he proposes Limited Purpose Banking (LPB)—a straightforward and easily implemented plan to make Wall Street safe for Main Street. Featured in the Financial Times, Forbes, the New Republic, Bloomberg, and other top media, LPB transforms all financial corporations into pass-through mutual companies that can never fail, never leverage the taxpayer, and never sell fraudulent securities. LPB is the first and only proposal that could fundamentally end our enduring financial plague and restore economic prosperity.

Whether or not you agree with Kotlikoff's conclusion, you'll find his analysis of the crisis and his simple solution a true economic eye-opener. Indeed, Jimmy Stewart Is Dead will fundamentally change the way you think about the economy, financial markets, the government, and the safest way to shape our economic future.


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780470609019
Publisher: Wiley
Publication date: 02/18/2010
Sold by: JOHN WILEY & SONS
Format: eBook
Pages: 272
File size: 478 KB

About the Author

LAURENCE J. KOTLIKOFF is a William Fairfield Warren Professor of Economics at Boston University, Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Research Associate of the National Bureau of Economic Research, Fellow of the Econometric Society, and former Senior Economist, President's Council of Economic Advisers. Coauthor of The Coming Generational Storm and Spend 'Til the End and author of The Healthcare Fix, and Bloomberg columnist, Kotlikoff publishes extensively in the nation's leading newspapers, magazines, and financial websites on financial reform, taxes, saving, growth, deficits, Social Security, healthcare, pensions, and personal finance.

Table of Contents

Foreword by Jeffrey Sachs.

Preface.

Acknowledgments.

Chapter 1. It’s a Horrible Mess.

Chapter 2. The Big Con: Financial Malfeasance, American Style.

Chapter 3. Uncle Sam’s Dangerous Medicine.

Chapter 4. “This Sucker Could Go Down”.

Chapter 5. Limited Purpose Banking.

Chapter 6. Getting from Here to There.

Chapter 7. What About?

Chapter 8. Conclusion.

Afterword. Fixing the Rest of Our Economic Mess.

Notes.

About the Author.

Index.

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