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Not sure this belongs in "off-topic," but... "Griftopia."

CrashCrash
edited December 2023 in Off-Topic
Author: Matt Taibbi, formerly with Rolling Stone. The book dates from 2010. Still relevant, for sure.
Read it, and your brain will explode, and any faith you ever had in our political and economic system will be vaporized. I just finished it. I was not generally unaware of how corrupt it all is, but Taibbi is all over the Thing, really. Details, details. More than you want to know. We are truly fucked. Morally, if not financially.
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Comments

  • hank
    edited December 2023
    Definitely belongs in OT. I appreciate hearing about this. I bought the audio version. Full of unsupported assertions / conspiracy theories / scapegoating from both the left and the right. Some pertinent observations as well. Liberal use of terms like “ass-hole”, “suck up to”, etc. Sure, my ears are not virgin. But this type of language is not typical of scholarly work. Treatment of Greenspan is harsh. Generally the equity markets prospered in his time. (Ask Peter Lynch.)
  • CrashCrash
    edited December 2023
    hank said:

    Definitely belongs in OT. I appreciate hearing about this. I bought the audio version. Full of unsupported assertions / conspiracy theories / scapegoating from both the left and the right. Some pertinent observations as well. Liberal use of terms like “ass-hole”, “suck up to”, etc. Sure, my ears are not virgin. But this type of language is not typical of scholarly work. Treatment of Greenspan is harsh. Generally the equity markets prospered in his time. (Ask Peter Lynch.)

    Yes, I do see what you mean. I dunno if i'd use the term conspiracy theories. My copy is back at the library, now. My impression does not include conspiracy theories; rather, a negligent approach to what was going on by regulators, standard-bearers like the ratings agencies, government officials, and on and on. Phil Gramm out of Texas? TRULY an a-hole, and those of his ilk, and all who arranged to kill Glass-Steagall. Ronny Ray-guns' years, then Slick Willy, and the Bushes. Prime Time for all of those shenanigans. Obama had to deal with the fallout. I remember reading elsewhere that in ICELAND, they JAILED the greedy, conscience-less scumbags. In the USA, we RESCUED them. Feces. And don't leave out lovely Lewis Ranieri, with uncle Larry Fink: those mortgage-bond bundles.

    Other winners included people like Michael Burry, et al., from "The Big Short." And maybe the likes of me, holding junk bonds today.
  • hank
    edited December 2023
    OK - “Conspiracy theories” was over the top. Not to gripe. It was a NYT best seller, so worth a look. Just saying … Maybe change conspiracy theories to people in positions of power acting out of “ulterior motives”.
  • CrashCrash
    :) Sure.
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