Financial Crisis and the Free Market Cure: Why Pure Capitalism is the World Economy's Only Hope / Edition 1

by John A. Allison

Overview

WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED FROM THE FINANCIAL CRISIS?
NOTHING.


The informative bestseller that shows us where our economy went wrong—and what we can do about it—with a timely new introduction.


One of the most important books to emerge from the 2008 economic crisis, this powerful wake-up call from financial expert John Allison has become a classic in the field. Now, in light of emerging global trends and shakeups in the stock market, the book’s message is more timely than ever: The government should stop trying to fix our economy. The free market is our best and only hope. In this eye-opening book, Allison reveals:


•How the Federal Reserve has even more power than before the Great Recession—and why this is a problem.


•How Wall Street has been wrongly blamed for our slow economic recovery—and why it’s Washington’s fault.


•How government regulations like Dodd Frank have burdened banks—and stifled growth.


•How socialized medicine and entitlements drive up costs—and how government policies exacerbate unemployment and income inequality.


•Why free market capitalism offers a proven cure for our economy—and how to make it work for all Americans.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	2900071806779
Publication date:	09/25/2012
Pages:	288
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.30(d)

About the Author

John Allison is the retired President and CEO of the Cato Institute and retired Chairman and CEO of BB&T. He was named one of the decade’s most successful CEOs by the Harvard Business Review.

Table of Contents

Introduction to the Paperback Edition

Introduction

1: Fundamental Themes

2: What Happened?

3: Government Monetary Policy: The Fed as the Primary Cause

4: FDIC Insurance: The Background Cause

5: Government Housing Policy: The Proximate Cause

6: The Essential Role of Banks in a Complex Economy: The Liquidity Challenge

7: The Residential Real-Estate-Market Bubble and Financial-Market Stress

8: Failure of the Rating Agencies: The Subprime Mortgage Market and Its Impact on Capital Markets

9: Pick-a-Payment Mortgages: A Toxic Product of FDIC Insurance Coverage

10: How Freddie and Fannie Grew to Dominate the Home Mortgage Lending Business

11: Fair-Value Accounting and Wealth Destruction

12: Derivatives and Shadow Banking: A Misunderstanding

13: The Myth that "Deregulation" Caused the Financial Crisis

14: How the SEC Made Matters Worse

15: Market Corrections Are Necessary, but Panics Are Destructive and Avoidable

16: TARP (Troubled Asset Relief Program)

17: What We Could Have—and Should Have—Done

18: The Cure for the Banking Industry: Systematically Move Toward Pure Capitalism

19: Some Political Cures: Government Policy

20: Our Short-Term Path and How to End Unemployment

21: The Deepest Cause Is Philosophical

22: The Cure Is Also Philosophical

23: How the United States Could Go Broke

24: The Need for Principled Action

25: Conclusion

Notes

Index

Acknowledgments

Editorial Reviews

"Seek[s] to set the record straight as to the true origins of the Great Recession."

The Washington Times

”The Financial Crisis and the Free Market Cure doesn’t shy away from laying bare the alarming details, but it also offers practical advice for today’s leaders in the form of an electrifying analysis. In the end, it’s a call to arms for a nation on the brink."

TheBlaze.com

"[A] landmark work."

The Weekly Standard

“As Allison is no ordinary public intellectual this is no ordinary book. It is a reform blueprint with deep integrity. . . . Allison brings thoughtful solutions to the problems besetting both the banking industry and the American economy. . . . An excellent resource to advance the renewal of equitable prosperity."

Forbes.com

"John Allison has written easily one of the most important books of the year. Go out and buy it."

Forbes