Syndetics cover image
Image from Syndetics

Age of greed : the triumph of finance and the decline of America, 1970 to the present / Jeff Madrick.

By: Material type: TextTextPublication details: New York : Alfred A. Knopf, 2011.Description: xi, 464 p. : ill. ; 25 cmISBN:
  • 1400041716
  • 9781400041718
Subject(s):
Contents:
Revolution -- Prologue: Lewis Uhler, believer -- Walter Wriston, regulatory revolt -- Milton Friedman, proselytizer -- Richard Nixon and Arthur Burns, political expediency -- Joe Flom, the hostile takeover and its consequences -- Ivan Boesky, wanting it all -- Walter Wriston II, bailing out Citibank -- Ronald Reagan, the making of an ideology -- Ted Turner, Sam Walton, and Steve Ross, size becomes strategy -- Jimmy Carter, capitulation -- Howard Jarvis and Jack Kemp, tapping the anger -- Paul Volcker, Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan, revolution completed -- The new guard -- Tom Peters and Jack Welch, promises broken -- Michael Milken, "the magnificent" -- Alan Greenspan, ideologue -- George Soros and John Meriwether, fabulous wealth and controversial power -- Sandy Weill, king of the world -- Jack Grubman, Frank Quattrone, Ken Lay, and Sandy Weill, decade of deceit -- Angelo Mozilo, the American tragedy -- Jimmy Cayne, Richard Fuld, Stan O'Neal, and Chuck Prince, collapse -- Epilogue.
Summary: As Jeff Madrick makes clear, the single-minded pursuit of huge personal wealth has been on the rise in the United States since the 1970s, led by a few individuals who argue that self-interest guides society more effectively than community concerns. In telling the stories of these politicians, economists, and financiers who declared a moral battle for freedom but instead gave rise to an age of greed, Madrick traces the lineage of some of our nation's most pressing economic problems. He begins with Walter Wriston, head of what would become Citicorp, who led the battle against government regulation. He examines the ideas of economist Milton Friedman, who created the plan for an anti-Rooseveltian America; the politically expedient decisions of Richard Nixon that fueled inflation; the philosophy of Alan Greenspan, on whose libertarian ideology a house of cards was built on Wall Street; and Sandy Weill, who constructed the largest financial institution in the world, which would have gone bankrupt in 2008 without a federal bailout.--From publisher description.
Holdings
Item type Home library Collection Call number Materials specified Status Date due Barcode Item holds
Adult Book Adult Book Main Library NonFiction 330.973 M183 Available 33111006773515
Total holds: 0

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

A vividly told history of how greed bred America's economic ills over the last forty years, and of the men most responsible for them.

As Jeff Madrick makes clear in a narrative at once sweeping, fast-paced, and incisive, the single-minded pursuit of huge personal wealth has been on the rise in the United States since the 1970s, led by a few individuals who have argued that self-interest guides society more effectively than community concerns. These stewards of American capitalism have insisted on the central and essential place of accumulated wealth through the booms, busts, and recessions of the last half century, giving rise to our current woes.

In telling the stories of these politicians, economists, and financiers who declared a moral battle for freedom but instead gave rise to an age of greed, Madrick traces the lineage of some of our nation's most pressing economic problems. He begins with Walter Wriston, head of what would become Citicorp, who led the battle against government regulation. He examines the ideas of economist Milton Friedman, who created the plan for an anti-Rooseveltian America; the politically expedient decisions of Richard Nixon that fueled inflation; the philosophy of Alan Greenspan, on whose libertarian ideology a house of cards was built on Wall Street; and the actions of Sandy Weill, who constructed the largest financial institution in the world, which would have gone bankrupt in 2008 without a federal bailout of $45 billion. Significant figures including Ivan Boesky, Michael Milken, Jack Welch, and Ronald Reagan play key roles as well.

Intense economic inequity and instability is the story of our age, and Jeff Madrick tells it with style, clarity, and an unerring command of his subject.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Revolution -- Prologue: Lewis Uhler, believer -- Walter Wriston, regulatory revolt -- Milton Friedman, proselytizer -- Richard Nixon and Arthur Burns, political expediency -- Joe Flom, the hostile takeover and its consequences -- Ivan Boesky, wanting it all -- Walter Wriston II, bailing out Citibank -- Ronald Reagan, the making of an ideology -- Ted Turner, Sam Walton, and Steve Ross, size becomes strategy -- Jimmy Carter, capitulation -- Howard Jarvis and Jack Kemp, tapping the anger -- Paul Volcker, Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan, revolution completed -- The new guard -- Tom Peters and Jack Welch, promises broken -- Michael Milken, "the magnificent" -- Alan Greenspan, ideologue -- George Soros and John Meriwether, fabulous wealth and controversial power -- Sandy Weill, king of the world -- Jack Grubman, Frank Quattrone, Ken Lay, and Sandy Weill, decade of deceit -- Angelo Mozilo, the American tragedy -- Jimmy Cayne, Richard Fuld, Stan O'Neal, and Chuck Prince, collapse -- Epilogue.

As Jeff Madrick makes clear, the single-minded pursuit of huge personal wealth has been on the rise in the United States since the 1970s, led by a few individuals who argue that self-interest guides society more effectively than community concerns. In telling the stories of these politicians, economists, and financiers who declared a moral battle for freedom but instead gave rise to an age of greed, Madrick traces the lineage of some of our nation's most pressing economic problems. He begins with Walter Wriston, head of what would become Citicorp, who led the battle against government regulation. He examines the ideas of economist Milton Friedman, who created the plan for an anti-Rooseveltian America; the politically expedient decisions of Richard Nixon that fueled inflation; the philosophy of Alan Greenspan, on whose libertarian ideology a house of cards was built on Wall Street; and Sandy Weill, who constructed the largest financial institution in the world, which would have gone bankrupt in 2008 without a federal bailout.--From publisher description.

Powered by Koha