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5 out of 5 stars
By
JJ
on
08-07-15
Every politician needs to read this book
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This book explains the history of economic austerity and how it has never worked and why it will never work. The author uses in-depth and sometimes complicated economic rationale to explain why but I think that is what lends so much legitimacy to his argument. I will admit it is not for the feeble minded but it is also not so complicated that the average concerned person can’t understand.
He gives the reader a complete analysis of why public spending cuts never lead to economic growth and typically fuel rising debt instead of lowering it. He further details how the global financial crisis is really a private crisis of the banking sector and not a problem of public spending run amok. It is glaringly obvious that governments have allowed the finance industry to needlessly gamble and in many cases, have been forced to bail them out with public money.
This book allowed me to finally understand the real reasons behind the European debt crisis and how much of it extends from several structural flaws in the Euro. I have read a number of books on the 2008/2009 financial crisis and I would say this is the best one yet. This really brought everything together for me as it really gets to the "why" behind a lot of the problems we see today.
I like his analysis of Iceland at the end and I wish he had written much more on the topic. My only complaint is that the author quotes a number of economic theorists and sometimes it is hard to determine if he is still talking about their opinion or his own.
Every politician should read this book and understand how cuts to public spending almost never produce the desired economic growth.
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1 of 1 people found this review helpful
5 out of 5 stars
By
PatrikH
on
11-17-17
Great explanation of the concept
Both the written and the audibook versions are great. It goes into great detail as to why economically austerity is not a good idea, and why country sized economies cannot be run like a household budget. The author does a great job of building up on concepts and showing how the idea of austerity can hinder, not help an economy.
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Customer Reviews
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4 out of 5 stars
By
Steve
on
04-08-15
An enlightening read
This is something that that everyone of the voting public should be aware of. The author pulls no puches ans cites each one of his points with a valid reference. His conclusions are logical and feasible and delivered in plain and explained language.
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6 of 6 people found this review helpful
5 out of 5 stars
By
Andrew
on
04-29-15
Hugely enlightening.
Was expecting quite a dry factual story. Found the whole book hugely enlightening with excellent cross referenced examples to prove thesis. Very well narrated keeping my attention through some very complex issues throughout.
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4 of 4 people found this review helpful
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful
5 out of 5 stars
By
Sean James Finn
on
12-16-16
Awesome, but for one thing
The book should have been narrated by the author. otherwise, it's an awesome analysis of austerity.
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1 of 1 people found this review helpful