The Mess We're In: Why Politicians Can't Fix Financial Crises - Hardcover

Fraser-Sampson, Guy

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1908739061 ISBN 13: 9781908739063

Publisher: Elliott & Thompson, 2013

Synopsis

An insightful analysis of why politicians have put the world into financial ruin and have found no way out

 

Around the world, countries are struggling to deal with the aftermath of the 2007–08 banking crisis, hefty budget deficits, the threat of ongoing recession, and the rising costs of pension provision. The news is full of doom and gloom about the ever-growing mess the countries are in. But the real problem is that the very people who should be sorting it out are instead making it worse. In an entertaining mix of historical narrative and conceptual analysis, Guy Fraser-Sampson argues that the present crisis has in fact been several decades in the making, and is the inevitable outcome of years of neglect and betrayal by those trusted to serve and govern over the public. Taking Britain as his test case, he looks back at key economic policy decisions since 1919 to reveal how politicians through the ages have gotten it so badly wrong. Fraser-Sampson sets out the facts to support his claim that, at every opportunity, the political elite has prioritized self-interest over long-term national wellbeing and have caused the current situation; now the time has come for them to be called into account.

About this title

About the Author

Guy Fraser-Sampson is a bestselling finance and economics author whose works include Cricket at the Crossroads, No Fear Finance, and Private Equity as an Asset Class.

Reviews

The current international financial crisis reaches back decades, not years, and will continue for the foreseeable future because its roots are not in finance but in politics, asserts British financial writer Fraser-Sampson. Unlike most economic pundits, he focuses more on how the crisis occurred than why, aiming sharp criticism at self-interested politicians who lack the understanding and courage to make the changes necessary to relieve the crisis and avoid future financial disasters. He analyzes the credit bubble that caused the crisis, the burgeoning national debt of nations running budget deficits, recession and slow economic growth, pension-funding shortfalls (particularly in Britain), and politics embroiled in economic policy. He offers historical perspective reaching back to post-WWI Europe and views the current mess through the socialist model of Karl Marx, the balance-of-government-and-private-enterprise model of John Maynard Keynes, and the Austrian School model that argues against government intervention in economics. Noting the failure of socialism and the dubious results of Keynesian economics, Fraser-Sampson argues for the controversial ideas of Ludwig von Mises and Friedrich Hayek that have gained popularity among American conservatives. --Vanessa Bush

Edition details

• Publisher: Elliott & Thompson
• Publication date: 2013
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1908739061
• ISBN 13: 9781908739063
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 288