Book Review: The Conservative Nanny State [How the Wealthy Use the Government to Stay Rich and Get Richer]
As most of you know I like reading about the economy and finacial policies and how they affect my investments. I just finished reading The Conservative Nanny State by economist Dean Baker.
Its a great book and a very easy read. Not as fun to read as Freakonomics : A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything, but still extremely fascinating nonetheless.
Dean Baker explains how the wealthy are influencing government policy to make sure that money flows upstream from the poor to the rich. Not only that, but even policies that seem like they’re designed to help protect the poor and middle class are actually designed to help rich corporations instead. He touches a variety of topics from illegal immigration to patents and tort reform, and even how CEOs are grossly overpaid. I finished it in 2 hrs and I couldn’t put it down. He even has solutions, not that I believe anything will change but I strongly recommend it.
And its even FREE!! Just download it in PDF format.
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August 5th, 2006 at 4:12 pm
Ironically, this type of behavior is exactly what leads to the development of socialist states. The recent nationalization of energy concerns by Bolivia and Venenzuela are good examples. Ultimately, socialism is likely to hit the US as 83 million people retire over the next decade and don’t have enough money to live on. Their huge voting power will strip wealth from the top and distribute it to the bottom. It will happen with a movement to elect left leaning candidates in office in 2008 and 2012. Watch for it.