Books

Average customer rating:

Must read for all taxpayers
Vague, nonspecific and has hidden agendas
Fooling Some of the People
Read it first, then make up your own mind
The Most Provacative Tax Reform Proposal Yet

The Fair Tax Book: Saying Goodbye to the Income Tax and the IRS
Neal Boortz , and John Linder
Manufacturer: Regan Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0060875496
Release Date: 2006-05-02

Book Description

Wouldn't you love to abolish the IRS. . . .
Keep all the money in your paycheck. . . .
Pay taxes on what you spend, not what you earn. . . .
And eliminate all the fraud, hassle, and waste of our current system?
If so, the FairTax is for you!

A smash #1 New York Times bestseller from the moment it went on sale, The FairTax Book launched a massive grassroots movement across the country with its dramatic call to rid Americans of the punishing burden of income tax. Talk-radio firebrand Neal Boortz and Congressman John Linder are leading the charge to replace the current tax system with the FairTax -- a simple 23 percent retail sales tax on new goods and services that would eliminate the reviled IRS and replace it with a system that's fair to all -- while jump-starting the U.S. economy, bringing businesses and jobs back to our shores, and recapturing billions of untaxed dollars currently lost to criminal and offshore businesses. Americans would get to keep 100 percent of their hard-earned paycheck . . . and April 15 would become just another beautiful spring day.

Endorsed by scores of leading economists -- and gaining momentum in both the House and the Senate -- the FairTax Plan could revolutionize the way America pays for itself. Here -- revised and updated, with a new afterword by the authors -- is the straight-talking book that started it all.

Download Description

Wouldn't you love to abolish the IRS ...
Keep all the money in your paycheck ...
Pay taxes on what you spend, not what you earn ...
And eliminate all the fraud, hassle, and waste of our current system?

Then the FairTax is for you. In the face of the outlandish American tax burden, talk-radio firebrand Neal Boortz and Congressman John Linder are leading the charge to phase out our current, unfair system and enact the FairTax Plan, replacing the federal income tax and withholding system with a simple 23 percent retail sales tax on new goods and services. This dramatic revision of the current system, which would eliminate the reviled IRS, has already caught fire in the American heartland, with more than six hundred thousand taxpayers signing on in support of the plan.

As Boortz and Linder reveal in this first book on the FairTax, this radical but eminently sensible plan would end the annual national nightmare of filing income tax returns, while at the same time enlarging the federal tax base by collecting sales tax from every retail consumer in the country. The FairTax, they argue, would transform the fearsome bureaucracy of the IRS into a more transparent, accountable, and equitable tax collection system. Among other benefits, it will:

Make America's tax code truly voluntary, without reducing revenue
Replace today's indecipherable tax code with one simple sales tax
Protect lower-income Americans by covering the tax on basic necessities
Eliminate billions of dollars in embedded taxes we don't even know we're paying
Bring offshore corporate dollars back into the U.S. economy

Endorsed by scores of leading economists and supported by a huge and growing grassroots movement, the FairTax Plan could revolutionize the way America pays for itself. In this straight-talking book, Neal Boortz and John Linder show you how it would work -- and how you can help make it happen.

Customer Reviews:

Must read for all taxpayers.......2007-06-27

A well writen, informative discussion of a tax code that should be adopted immediately. This book should be read by everyone who payes taxes as it will open your eyes to the problems with the existing tax structure. In addition it proposes a sensible approach to fixing the problem.

Vague, nonspecific and has hidden agendas.......2007-06-26

1) the main thing that is not mentioned is that corporations will pay no taxes on anything they buy, which would include office supplies, corporate jets, cars, trucks, light bulbs, dinner meetings, convention hotel rooms. etc etc.

The same things that citizens purchase at the 23/30% rate would be exempt for corporations.

Also a corporation could buy a dump truck and incur no sales tax, while a city government would pay sales tax.

2) How does this reduce the oversized government?

are you planning on telling everyone to not buy anything in this first year. "PSYCHE!"

3) Some libertarians say it does not go far enough, that it still feeds the overly gargantuan machine,

(I believe the book is a watered down version of what the bill really says.)

and it's watered down so they can hope to get the masses behind it, pass it and then reveal it's true nature.

Sorry libertarians , you're gonna have to invent a new country somewhere else, and write your own "wet dream" constitution.

Oh wait, you did... In Iraq.

And whoever you are, if you are reading this review;

# 1455 or something:

you are dedicated!

Fooling Some of the People.......2007-06-19

The main problem with this book is the authors never tell that they have no dollar figures to back up their claim! A 30% National Sales Tax will not bring in the money needed to run the National Security State as it now exists.

The problems in modern Europe are mainly due to their high national sales tax (VAT) of just 18% to 20%. It is taxing people to death (the falling birth rate and other problems of malaise). Economics Professor Batra said so in one of his books. (Yes, there is controversy over this.) But the fact is that high regressive taxes do affect people adversely, and have done so throughout history. Remember the Boston Tea Party?

Read it first, then make up your own mind.......2007-06-10

Simply a must read. Unless you hate the poor and middle class, love tax loopholes, and enjoy how the power of the people rests in the hands of lobbyist.

The Most Provacative Tax Reform Proposal Yet.......2007-06-05

Linder and Boortz have proposed the most simple and sweeping tax reform program that could lift this country out of the morass of complicated tax laws we find ourselves entangled in today. Not only that, if installed, it could also lift the nation into a position of advantage for international banking and trade. The book is thin, and does not explore the many facets of the long range impacts - nor all of the short range complexities of implementation, however, it is honest in its presentation and does not mislead the reader. It is provocative and deserving of a thorough read in a time when the current tax code is obviously outmoded, excessively complex, expensive, and a dis-service to our citizenry.

Tough Choices or Tough Times: The Report of the New Commission on the Skills of the American Workforce

Average customer rating:

Releiance on Objective Tests
A well-written wake-up call.
Finally, a comprehensive strategy forward
It's Time to Put the Professionalism in Teaching
Creativity and Innovation

Tough Choices or Tough Times: The Report of the New Commission on the Skills of the American Workforce
National Center on Education and the Economy
Manufacturer: Jossey-Bass
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0787995983

Book Description

Tough Choices or Tough Times calls for first redesign of the American education system in a century. This report of the New Commission on the Skills of the American Workforce shows how the dynamics of the global economy will lead to a steady decline in the American standard of living if this country does not undertake the first thorough overhaul of its education system in a century. It shows how our country can graduate 95% of our students (not two-thirds, as it does now) after 12 years and the majority after only 10 years of grade school. It reveals how billions of dollars can be saved by changing the way students progress through the grades and how the money saved could be used to build high quality early childhood education systems, attract the best and brightest teachers, and provide the resources for even the most disadvantaged students to reach world class standards. This hard-hitting analysis describes the kind of economy needed to sustain our current standard of living and kinds of skills and knowledge that American workers need to make that economy work. It also details the dramatic changes in governance, finance, organization, and management of the American education and training systems that are needed.

Tough Choices or Tough Times was written for anyone concerned with the future of this country and the state of our schools and our job training systems. It provides a well-researched analysis of the issues and a compelling set of proposals for changing our system of education.

National Center in Education and the Economy (NCEE) is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to providing young people with the world-class skills that will allow them to succeed in a global economy. The 26-member commission includes former Cabinet secretaries of labor and education, Senators, Members of Congress, school superintendents, CEOs of major firms, union leaders, and governors.

Customer Reviews:

Releiance on Objective Tests.......2007-02-20

This is an interesting and important document from a group who have had considerable influence on education policy. My largest disagreement is the emphasis on external testing rather than classroom assessment. Good art and music teachers both teach and assess creativty. There is no external test for this ability; whose importance is emphasized in the report.

A well-written wake-up call........2007-02-04

This book by the Commission on the Skills of the American Workforce is well written in clear terms with summaries and simple graphics. It is a must read for anyone interested in the future of the US economy. The Commission points out the risks of our poor pre-university education to the US economy. India and China are now competing with the US in the high skilled labor market (not just low skilled) and at lower wages. With the Internet, many jobs can be done anywhere, and companies will hire the best at the lowest cost (Indian engineers make $7500 annually with the same qualifications as US engineers who make $45,000).

The Commission describes how US universities continue to be the best in the world, but grade schools and high schools have fallen behind. In the 20th century the US pioneered universal education, and received an influx of talent, from scientists fleeing Germany before World War II to a more recent influx of Asian students, who stayed and worked here. But now, other countries have passed us in pre-university education and many foreign students are going back to their own countries after graduating.

"A Nation at Risk" came out in 1983, saying "If an unfriendly foreign power had attempted to impose on America the mediocre education performance that exists today, we might well have viewed it as an act of war." The Tough Choices Commission points out that since then we've had a more than doubling of spending on education (inflation adjusted) with only modest improvement. The Commission concludes that the main improvement, standards testing, turns out to be misguided because it is multiple choice, not essay, and thus doesn't teach the creative, out of the box thinking needed for the US to maintain its lead. Multiple choice tests are by definition "in the box" tests.

"A Nation at Risk" proposals in 1983 for merit pay for teachers were resisted, and teachers continue to come from the bottom 1/3 of University graduates. The Commission proposes merit pay for new teachers, with an opt-in choice for existing teachers, combined with higher salaries made possible by eliminating pensions and using 401Ks instead, like other professions. Other proposals include universal pre-school, school choice with funding following students, less bureaucracy and more independence for individual schools, adult education coordinated with the business community, and inter-city schools and supporting social services being coordinated under one person, such as the mayor. Finally, partial funding can be found by reducing the number of students in the last 2 years of high school by allowing board testing at the 10th grade, with those passing going to community college then a university, directly to trade school, or directly to work.

I have separately read that having funding follow the student to encourage competition among schools has been implemented successfully at the city level in San Francisco. The Commission shows that if pensions and vacation time are included, current teacher salaries are actually somewhat competitive. But talented young people prefer money now, and don't know that they would stay in teaching long enough to earn a pension. Thus, pension money could be moved to up front salary and portable 401Ks, with existing teachers having the option of opting in or staying with their pensions.

The proposal to coordinate social services with schooling to help the disadvantaged, such as by putting all under a mayor has been done in New York recently, with great success. By providing programs for kids until 5 PM, and help to their families, the disadvantages of a poor home situation can be addressed. The US economy is healthy because of the waves of immigration it has had over the past 15 years, and we can't afford not to train those immigrants so our business have a talented labor pool to draw on.

The board exams proposed at the end of the 10th grade will provide badly needed motivation to students, since they can get out of school earlier if they work harder, rather than marking time.

To cut bureaucracy, the commission proposed principals be given free reign on how to spend the money they get (which is based on the number of students). Also, school boards would not run schools, but would contract with others (such as private companies, groups of teachers, etc.). The school boards would then become performance contract managers.

Finally, the report proposes training of people in the workforce, since these people will be the largest part of our workforce for some time, and will need more advanced and creative skills.

Finally, a comprehensive strategy forward.......2007-02-03

Citing Winston Churchill, who said America always did the right thing after it had exhausted all the alternatives, the New Commission on Skills of the American Workforce calls for a complete overhaul of American education.

Unlike the Commission Report in 1990, which recommended that we improve our high technology skills and accept as inevitable the movement of low-skill jobs to global competitors, the current Commission draws our attention to the fact that we are losing high-skill jobs to global competitors as well. Such losses are projected to grow geometrically if we fail to act with an integrated whole system response.

The Commission recommends a major overhaul of American education to include how we define needs, develop curriculum, attract and retain world class teachers, focus scarce resources, assess stakeholders, and finance public education. All familiar words, I know, but the devil or angel, if you will, is in the details. Let's look at some of the most important.

Noting the poor scores made by U.S. students on international tests and the prospect that we will lose our leadership position in fields that require exemplary abilities in mathematical reasoning; scientific concepts; writing; creativity and innovation; self-discipline and organization; and teamwork, the Commission calls for regional economic development authorities. These authorities would be responsible for coordinating with existing institutions to develop goals and strategies that would serve as guides for local decisions and channel resources where initiatives contributed to the achievement of such goals and strategies.

The Commission calls for significant changes in school governance. School boards and districts would find their role focused on policy making, facilitation of educational networks, operation of support service centers, reporting, and writing performance contracts with those who operate the schools. Schools would be operated by independent contractors and would have complete discretion to determine spending, staffing, calendar, organization and management ---- all subject to the same safety, curriculum, and testing standards as other schools. States would recruit and train teachers; build standard curriculum and assessment agencies; investigate, review and approve networks; contract for special services; and develop statewide schools to serve gifted children.

Teachers would be employed and licensed by the state. Their compensation would shift from current practices, which are back-loaded to emphasize pensions and defined health care benefits, to one which is front-loaded to emphasize cash compensation. Under a front-loaded approach, pay for beginning teachers would be $45,000. Competent academic-year teachers could receive $95,000 and competent calendar-year teachers as high as $110,000. In addition, incentive pay would be paid to teachers willing to teach in remote areas, tough urban areas, and in fields with labor shortages like math, science, language, and special education. The objective of all these changes is to recruit, develop, and retain individuals who had graduated from the top third of their high school graduation classes.

To discover where much of the money is coming from to pay for these changes, you have to examine their recommendation in the area of assessment. Essentially, the Commission wants to shift American education from a system that is time-based to one that is based on merit, using Board Examinations to control progression. They would allow high school students to sit for the initial board examinations at the end of their sophomore year. If they score well enough, they will be allowed to begin a two-year technical training program or to enter a four-year degree program. Those who scored less well would remain to prepare for the second board examination which, when passed, would allow them to attend a state college or university. Neither progression would permit remediation at the next highest level. In short, no one would be allowed to progress unless they are ready and no one would be held back based on a scheme that honors time more than it does competence. The Commission expects this progression scheme to save $67 billion.

In addition to teacher compensation, the Commission would spend part of the savings on high-quality, universal early childhood education for three and four year olds. Supplemental funding would be made available to help schools with high concentrations of disadvantaged students, e.g. screening and diagnosis, tutoring; community involvement, etc. School financing would be a state, rather than a local matter. And the state would use a uniform funding formula that emphasizes equity over equality. New Federal money would be sought to fund interest-bearing Personal Competitiveness Accounts. These accounts would be funded by the Federal government with a $500 deposit at birth and annual contributions made to age 16. The fund would accept tax-free contributions from employers, states, and individuals. From these funds, individuals could draw to improve their education and skills as adults.

Reactions from the educational establishment have been mixed. Predictably, all favor high-quality universal education for three and four year olds and for injections of more money into the educational system. No one, however, wants to support recommendations that would require substantial changes for their membership. The National Education Association (NEA) doesn't want to support the shift in compensation because their current membership favors back-loaded systems. Neither the NEA nor the National School Boards Association wants to give up local funding and operation of schools. Finally, the National Association for College Admission Counseling cautions against using Board Examinations if they are built on the foundation of European models.

All stakeholders need to realize that the situation has deteriorated to such a point that anything less than a major transformation of American education risks being characterized as rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. As the Commission emphasizes, this is not a set of recommendations to be cherry-picked. Instead, they require a thoughtful, soul searching reflection and authentic dialogue to meet the challenges that are quickly coming into view.

It's Time to Put the Professionalism in Teaching.......2007-01-29

While there are some debatable aspects of the TOUGH CHOICES OR TOUGH TIMES report, the call to elevate teaching to the professional level it deserves is certainly long overdue. One problem the report doesn't explicitly mention is that our education system right now is a two-tiered heirarchy in which educrats--the professional ruling class of policymakers, administrators, and midlevel bureaucrats who don't actually teach--wield far too much power and often earn staggering salaries, while teachers are treated like common day-laborers, underpaid and (often) undermined by the flaky, self-serving policies that educrats impose on them.

The report recommends raising teacher salaries to attract the best and brightest, i.e. those who would otherwise be doctors, lawyers, and other ambitious career professionals, by doing away with current teacher-retirement systems in favor of higher up-front cash rewards and 401(k) packages. Astonishingly, the NEA and other powerful teacher unions are opposed to this. But the fact is our schools are failing us, in part, because teachers are not treated like professionals. Yes, there are plenty of attractive benefits to teaching already, like summers off and seniority-based salary schedules. But the trade-off is that many teachers are willing to give up intellectual authority over their profession and allow themselves to be infantilized by condescending educrats. This is a Faustian bargain, and it's time to break it.

If the commission's compensation plan were implemented, more young and bright professionals would be drawn to the classroom, and they'd (hopefully) stay there rather than hopscotching up to an administrative desk job as soon as they could. They would be unafraid to challenge the bad policies of educrats, and they would serve their constituents (the students and their parents) in far more creative and effective ways, because real professionals do not allow themselves to be bullied. Teachers would finally have intellectual authority over their profession, the same way that doctors, lawyers, and other true professionals do. It may mean sacrificing some comfort and standing up to our own unions, but the long-term results would be well worth it. Independence, as we already know, sometimes comes at a high price.

Creativity and Innovation.......2007-01-24

This report, the result of the second Commission on the Skills of the American Workforce in thirty years, represents "the canary in the mine." It is a warning to law makers, educators, students, parents and business people that we must overhaul the American educational system. Emphasis on creativity and innovation needs to be added to student learning and assessment as well as high levels of critical thinking. Instead of pushing toward analysis, teachers need to devise ways in which students can synthesize their learning; for example, thematically combining the content of a World Civ class with scientific breakthroughs. Creativity and innovation is the only way in which we can claim U.S. superiority in the fast approaching future. Countries like India and Japan are already ahead of us. We need to catch up quickly or lose our standing in the world marketplace.

China The Balance Sheet: What the World Needs to Know Now About the Emerging Superpower (Institute International Econom)

Average customer rating:

Little, No Credibility!
China Background
A book for politicians!
Another American type of arrogance
Typical American bias

China The Balance Sheet: What the World Needs to Know Now About the Emerging Superpower (Institute International Econom)
C. Fred Bergsten , Bates Gill , Nicholas R. Lardy , and Derek Mitchell
Manufacturer: PublicAffairs
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 1586484648

Book Description

C. Fred Bergsten, Bates Gill, Nicholas R. Lardy and Derek Mitchell are the principal authors of this investigative analysis, full of new information and perspectives on China, the result of a year-long task force jointly sponsored by CSIS and IIE, to which distinguished China experts have contributed. It is accessible, narrative-driven, filled with facts, but written for the general reader. The expert judgments presented in China: The Balance Sheet will inform policymakers in Washington, scholars and the business community for years to come.

Customer Reviews:

Little, No Credibility!.......2007-01-11

Pg. 4: "China's average wage is one-thirtieth of the U.S. and its average productivity level is equally lower (and wages, in any event account for only 20% of the cost of producing textiles and 5% of the cost of producing semiconductors)." If so, manufacturers that offshore in China would be stupid; alternatively, "China: The Balance Sheet" has a serious credibility problem. I go with the latter.

Nonetheless, this is still some value to the book for its statistics. For example, the authors believe China's foreign exchange reserves reached $1 trillion in '06, far more than any other country's, and probably more than enough to make serious improvement in its pollution and poverty problems. By 2050, China's economy is projected to be the world's largest; foreign investment only accounts for 5% of its capital growth - the Chinese savings rate of about 33% is more than enough to handle China's growth with money left over.

As for social services, "The Balance Sheet" asserts a mid-90's adult literacy rate of about 80% (vs. 50% in India) and graduates 800,000 scientists and engineers/year, while spending only 2.8% of GDP on education. Healthcare accounts for about 6% - far less than the U.S.' 16%.

Only 16% of China's land is arable, and most of its population lives on it. China's leaders are pressured to improve employment to absorb those leaving rural China, as well as those 40% released from state-jobs (including 80% from state-owned manufacturers).

Bergsten et al are most concerned about the possibility of conflict between the U.S. and China re Taiwan, and they point out that China uses its political (U.N. Security Council membership) and economic muscle to "encourage" others to support it re Taiwan.

China Background.......2006-12-19

I haven't read this book but have read several others by Nick Lardy and studied with him at Yale. I disagee with several reviewers who characterize Nick and his colleagues as ignorant about China and are simply imposing a western view. Nick was studying China and the economy (in Chinese) long before it was a popular subject and is intimately familiar with the country's economy. In a country where data is often obscured by politics, he has done an excellent job of piecing together disparate facts to achieve a coherent whole. He may be skeptical, but he's often correct.

A book for politicians!.......2006-11-05

I find this book extremely dull because it is mainly made up of statements. But then I realise that, written by government think tanks, this book is for politicians.

If you are a general reader and want to understand how China is affecting the world, I recommend China Shakes the World or China Inc. And if are interested in the recent history of China (pre-1978), read Wild Swans.

If you are a business person and want to understand how to do business in China, I recommend The China Executive by Dr Wei Wang.

Another American type of arrogance.......2006-10-27

I can't agree with . Shih "M.Smith"'s review even more. I just can't stand the arrogance tone shown in this book. I got a feeling that the authors simply don't like the progress in China. It seems like the authors are simply trying to minimizing the progress China made and relishing the problems China has.

I seriously doubt the authors ever read any Chinese sources or talk to any Chinese scholar. The authors seem to imply that if the Chinese to follow the American way, then they will never succeed. True, China has a tons of problems. But the Chinese leaders and Chinese people are trying their best to solve them. What annoys me is that some of these authors seem to relish over the fact that China has so many problems

You won't get that much new info about China in this book. Yea, China has tons of problems. Who doesn't know. The authors are trying to answer the most complex questions of China with simplistic answers.

Typical American bias.......2006-10-26

Well, what can I say about this book? With a due respect to the authors, it's the same usual American bias toward developing countries. As an American living and working in China for the past 2 years:

1)It's hard for Americans/Westerners to understand how business is done in China? Well, my answer it's because China is NOT in the West and Chinese people are not westerners. Try learning the language first, be respectful, and don't be so obnoxious.
2)This is the same background noise that I hear from overeducated ideologues: If a country is not like the US, then it must be wrong. I guess the Chinese should have a 4th world healthcare system like the US?
3)I personally feel that some authors wish China to stay poor so Madonna can have a concert there and pretend that the rich countries care. Well, maybe Africa, but not China.
4)Just because you watch CNN, FOX, and NBC, it does not make you an expert.
5)Just because you went to an Ivy League school, it does not make you a genius about other countries and cultures. As matter of fact, it does not make you a genius (period)
6)US should comment less on China and worry about the pointless war in Iraq, the death of our soldiers for a pointless cause, broken US healthcare, outsourcing of the American jobs, broken borders, broken education system, children killing each other at schools...and the list goes on.
7)China has many societal problems; please tell me something I don't know. China is working on it, it takes time, and they are not magicians.
8)If China is so awful please don't do business there nor go visit there. For the fact that there are SO many foreign investments there, makes all business executives and companies from the West idiots.

Inside the FDA: The Business and Politics Behind the Drugs We Take and the Food We Eat

Average customer rating:

Interesting look at an important regulatory body
Fascinating, Informative Look at Food & Drug Administration
Amazing book, although it misses one key insight
Recommended for public consumption!

Inside the FDA: The Business and Politics Behind the Drugs We Take and the Food We Eat
Fran Hawthorne
Manufacturer: Wiley
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Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0471610917

Book Description

The forces that shape America's most powerful consumer agency
Because of the importance of what it regulates, the FDA comes under tremendous political, industry, and consumer pressure. But the pressure goes far beyond the ordinary lobbying of Washington trade groups. Its mandate-one quarter of the national economy-brings the FDA into the middle of some of the most important and contentious issues of modern society. From "designer" babies and abortion to the price of prescription drugs and the role of government itself, Inside the FDA takes readers on an intriguing journey into the world of today's most powerful consumer agency.
In a time when companies continue to accuse the FDA of nitpicking and needlessly delaying needed new drugs, and consumers are convinced that the agency bends to industry pressure by rushing unsafe drugs to market, Inside the FDA digs deep to reveal the truth. Through scores of interviews and real-world stories, Hawthorne also shows how and why the agency makes some of its most controversial decisions as well as how its recent reaction to certain issues-including the revolutionary cancer drug Erbitux, stem cell research, and bioengineering of food-may jeopardize its ability to keep up with future scientific developments.
Inside the FDA takes a closer look at the practices, people, and politics of this crucial watchdog in light of the competing pressures and trends of modern society, revealing what the FDA is supposed to do, what it actually does-and fails to do-who it influences, and how it could better fulfill its mandate. The decisions that the FDA makes are literally life and death. Inside the FDA provides a sophisticated account of how this vitally important agency struggles to balance bureaucracy and politics with its overriding mission to promote the country's health.
Fran Hawthorne (New York, NY) is a senior contributing editor of Institutional Investor and has connections deep within the business and finance communities. Hawthorne has been covering healthcare and business for more than twenty years for such publications as Fortune, BusinessWeek, and Crain's New York Business. She is the author of The Merck Druggernaut (cloth: 0-471-22878-8; paper: 0-471-67906-2).

Download Description

"The forces that shape America's most powerful consumer agency
Because of the importance of what it regulates, the FDA comes under tremendous political, industry, and consumer pressure. But the pressure goes far beyond the ordinary lobbying of Washington trade groups. Its mandate-one quarter of the national economy-brings the FDA into the middle of some of the most important and contentious issues of modern society. From ""designer"" babies and abortion to the price of prescription drugs and the role of government itself, Inside the FDA takes readers on an intriguing journey into the world of today's most powerful consumer agency.
In a time when companies continue to accuse the FDA of nitpicking and needlessly delaying needed new drugs, and consumers are convinced that the agency bends to industry pressure by rushing unsafe drugs to market, Inside the FDA digs deep to reveal the truth. Through scores of interviews and real-world stories, Hawthorne also shows how and why the agency makes some of its most controversial decisions as well as how its recent reaction to certain issues-including the revolutionary cancer drug Erbitux, stem cell research, and bioengineering of food-may jeopardize its ability to keep up with future scientific developments.
Inside the FDA takes a closer look at the practices, people, and politics of this crucial watchdog in light of the competing pressures and trends of modern society, revealing what the FDA is supposed to do, what it actually does-and fails to do-who it influences, and how it could better fulfill its mandate. The decisions that the FDA makes are literally life and death. Inside the FDA provides a sophisticated account of how this vitally important agency struggles to balance bureaucracy and politics with its overriding mission to promote the country's health.
Fran Hawthorne (New York, NY) is a senior contributing editor of Institutional Investor and has connections deep within the business and finance communities. Hawthorne has been covering healthcare and business for more than twenty years for such publications as Fortune, BusinessWeek, and Crain's New York Business. She is the author of The Merck Druggernaut (cloth: 0-471-22878-8; paper: 0-471-67906-2)."

Customer Reviews:

Interesting look at an important regulatory body.......2006-12-20

For those who have ever wondered how the FDA makes decisions and how those decisions effect companies this is a great starting point. Hawthorne takes an objective stance towards the FDA and shows their faults along with the positives. She tracks several instances of FDA oversight and gives their results. I think the part that tracks the companies progress through the FDA's is the most instructive. One of my fields of study was health and pharmaceutical economics and this was a great way to start learning about the FDA.

Fascinating, Informative Look at Food & Drug Administration.......2005-05-28

"Inside the FDA" is a thoughtful, balanced, and well-researched look inside the controversial and troubled Food and Drug Administration. Author Fran Hawthorne is an experienced business journalist and her skills are evident here.

Digging into the FDA's complex and conflicting world, the book provides an informative picture of FDA's bureaucratic, political, and scientific drivers. Ms. Hawthorne does an excellent job of laying out what the FDA is suppose to do, what is really does, and where and why it fails.

It makes for a great read.

Amazing book, although it misses one key insight.......2005-05-07

Far better and more balanced than any book to date on the subject. The book does an amazing job explaining the external forces tugging in all directions at the FDA without those shrill calls for "reform" made by so-called public interests like CSPI or misguided lawmakers like Hinchey out of NY.

The only thing missing from the analysis are the internal forces. FDA attitudes are very much related to the belief system of the staff and the culture fostered by the institution.

If you've ever been on the receiving end of an FDA action, you know the prevailing culture inside the FDA views the entire industry as the police view criminals. The FDA often seems to doubt every iota of data, question every motive and act as if the administrative procedures which insure fairness are somehow boundaries on a power they believe should be limitless. Many parts of the FDA are an "end-justifies-the-means" culture. Staff who don't toe the line and approach industry with all out animosity and suspicion are often suspect themselves of being deficient in intellect and/or integrity.

The book does a bang up job analyzing external forces. If Ms. Hawthorne actually could have gotten inside the front lines at FDA, she would have had all the facts she needed for a superb analysis.

Recommended for public consumption! .......2005-04-13

I found this to be one of the most comprehensive books on the FDA and its role in issues that affect every American's daily life. She really explores the inner workings of the agency and takes it to task for its failures ... a great job, too, of laying out the complexities involved in controversial decisions on GMOs, stem cell research, etc.

Hitler's Beneficiaries: Plunder, Racial War, and the Nazi Welfare State

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Fascist capitalism
Organized Theft from Occupied Lands and the Jews
The Nazi Robbers

Hitler's Beneficiaries: Plunder, Racial War, and the Nazi Welfare State
Gotz Aly
Manufacturer: Metropolitan Books
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Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0805079262
Release Date: 2007-01-09

Book Description

A stunning account of the economic workings of the Third Reich—and the reasons ordinary Germans supported the Nazi state

In this groundbreaking book, historian Götz Aly addresses one of modern history’s greatest conundrums: How did Hitler win the allegiance of ordinary Germans? The answer is as shocking as it is persuasive: by engaging in a campaign of theft on an almost unimaginable scale—and by channeling the proceeds into generous social programs—Hitler literally “bought” his people’s consent.

Drawing on secret files and financial records, Aly shows that while Jews and citizens of occupied lands suffered crippling taxation, mass looting, enslavement, and destruction, most Germans enjoyed an improved standard of living. Buoyed by millions of packages soldiers sent from the front, Germans also benefited from the systematic plunder of conquered territory and the transfer of Jewish possessions into their homes and pockets. Any qualms were swept away by waves of government handouts, tax breaks, and preferential legislation.

Gripping and important, Hitler’s Beneficiaries makes a radically new contribution to our understanding of Nazi aggression, the Holocaust, and the complicity of a people.

Customer Reviews:

Fascist capitalism.......2007-06-22

Until recently, histories of the Third Reich have focused on Hitler and anti-Semitic ideology. The Holocaust and Hitler's military adventures have been granted an enormous number of pages. A few historians have placed some emphasis on his incompetent dabbling in military strategy. That picture is overfocussed, and misleading. Goetz Aly addresses a wider scope in this fascinating study of how the Reich was able to perservere in the face of what should have been sufficient cause for its early demise. With extensive research applied to the Reich's economic practices, he ably demonstrates what kept it functioning and accepted by the German population.

The term "Nazi" means National Socialist Workers' Party. That seeming innocuous phrase has been omitted from the consideration of its meaning, according to Aly. "National" and "Socialist" are the key terms. "National", meant just that - policies were aimed at benefitting Germany. "Socialist", of course, is a philosophy designed to benefit the most people - particularly those of the lower economic classes. Aly argues with detailed evidence that this is precisely what the Nazis achieved during the 1930s and through the war years. That it succeeded right up to the end of the Reich is testimony to the effectiveness of the Nazi economic methods. The average German began, and remained the "beneficiary" of a highly manipulated financial system.

It was a complex system. Aly begins by explaining how the Nazi leaders were a group of youthful, dynamic characters. They represented change, particularly in a restructering of the class system. The deprived were to be granted first priority in social benefits. While the 1930s witnessed a slow improvement, the onset of war allowed sweeping economic and social change. This was accomplished primarily by shifting the burden of war costs to the occupied nations. France was the testing ground for many new fiscal techniques designed to maintain a comfortable lifestyle in Germany, while bleeding the local populace of essential goods by imposing "occupation costs". One technique was simply to issue a military scrip to buy local goods. Soldiers were able to ship home foodstuffs and other goods not readily obtainable in Germany. The method worked less well in Russia where the "scorched-earth" policy reduced available foodstuffs and other goods. By the time the Wehrmacht entered the Balkans, however, it had numerous finacial tactics available to apply there.

Throughout the Reich's conquered territories, it was the Jews who bore the greatest of these burdens. A number of new laws allowed financial institutions and tax collectors to fill their coffers. Heavily taxed, then dispossessed of belongings, savings, homes and, of course ultimately their lives, the Jews "contributed" to the Reich's ongoing success in several ways. Their homes and belongings were taken and sold, often to the refugees from Allied bombing campaigns. Resettlement in real homes and apartments, sometimes fully furnished, instead of being sent to refugee camps, maintained German morale. The technique provided the gloss of "successful" government policies. Instead of being swayed by charismatic leadership or effective propaganda, Aly argues successfully that personal comfort bound the populace to an adventuresome regime. As he describes it, the Holocaust will never be properly understood until it is seen "as a campaign of murderous larceny". This book makes a major contribution to that understanding. [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]

Organized Theft from Occupied Lands and the Jews.......2007-03-29

Mr. Aly presents new and somewhat surprising view of the Nazi years and the effort that Hitler et al went through to keep the home crowds happy. His thesis is that Hitler provided 'guns and butter' through the systematic looting of the property of others including the jews and subsequently the occupied lands. He describes and documents that such looting was not just the looting of fine art from museums and factory equipment to the huge German companies but mundane, everyday items like hams and chairs. As Goring said in a speech on October 4, 1942, 'if someone has to go hungry, let it be someone other than a German.'

The book does not explain Hitler's support before 1933, and the book does not spend much time on happenings after February 2, 1943 (Stalingrad) and April 8, 1943 (Tunesia), nor of course on the last year of the war when the British and American bomber forces were finally getting it together.

The Nazi Robbers.......2007-03-16

Nobody will be surprised to learn that the Nazis robbed the Jews and other nations in Europe. But some of the detail will be new even to those who are well read in the voluminous literature on the Nazi period, and for that we must be grateful to the author. But it must also be said that he relied on the published work of others for some of the most interesting detail even in this narrow area.

Where the author is original is in his reading of the data of Nazi robbery. He argues that the German people benefited from the Nazi thievery, and, he says, for that reason (among others) they gave their enthusiastic support to the regime. He is careful not to dismiss other factors altogether, such as anti-Semitism, but he stresses the importance of the economic benefit to the population.

There are a number of problems with this thesis.

First, the evidence for happiness with economic conditions during the Hitler regime is totally anecdotal. The author has talked with members of his own family and other acquaintances, but there is no assurance that such haphazard interviewing has resulted in a representative picture. The same goes for his unsystematic reading of published memoirs by famous writers.

Is it simply common sense to assume that people are happy when they reap economic benefits? Not in the absence of other considerations. The German people, after all, underwent great hardship under the Nazi regime, especially in wartime. Aly does not mention that, from the point of view of material comfort, they had as many reasons to be unhappy with the Nazis as to be happy. Their taxes were low during the war, says Aly, because the Nazis robbed the Jews and the occupied countries to pay for the war. And low taxes make people happy. Even if your cities get bombed and your sons and husbands die on the battlefield? If, as Aly suggests, it is material benefits that motivate people above all else, the Germans might have been expected to oppose Hitler.

In my view, writers who have assigned greater weight to non-material motivating factors, such as the Nazi theology of anti-Semitism, have given more satisfactory answers to the puzzle of the Germans' wartime approbation of Hitler.

The Germans' happiness with the Nazis, moreover, began long before Jewish properties were expropriated. Why were the Nazis so popular in 1933, 1934, 1935 - before the program of looting was put into effect? On this point, Aly is totally ahistorical. His thesis is one of cause and effect - Nazi robberies having the effect of Nazi popularity. But what if the effect began before the putative cause?

To this reader at least, Aly's thesis lacks logic.

The Asian Energy Factor: Myths and Dilemmas of Energy, Security and the Pacific Future

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How to think about energy in Asia
Paucities and Scarcities
Energy Interdependence as an Integrative Force
Intriguing Analysis of an Emerging Geopolitical Concern

The Asian Energy Factor: Myths and Dilemmas of Energy, Security and the Pacific Future
Robert A. Manning
Manufacturer: Palgrave Macmillan
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Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0312224370

Book Description

Robert A. Manning debunks key myths about the oil industry: that the world is running out of oil, that the Caspian Basin is the new Persian Gulf, that resource scarcity combined with military modernization, economic buoyancy, and nationalism will lead to military conflict, and that territorial disputes among Asian nations are fueled by resource competition. His book assesses the energy challenges and strategies of Asian nations and explores the new geopolitics emerging out of their efforts to meet these challenges.

Customer Reviews:

How to think about energy in Asia.......2006-01-29

It is China's burgeoning energy demand which has nurtured an increased interest into the energy reality in Asia; and yet we still lack the conceptual lens through which to analyze the way that energy markets, and by extension geopolitics, are affected by the profound asymmetry between the demand for energy and the supply of resources in Asia (and East Asia in particular). It is this gap that Robert Manning bridges with the "Asian Energy Factor."

Mr. Manning's angle is captured in these words: "Whether they [Asia-Pacific nations] gravitate--as some have already begun to do--towards market-based solutions and realize the myriad commercial possibilities of foreign investment, regional integration and privatization, and deregulation or older dirigiste models may be the difference between increased conflict or increased cooperation in Asia." Alone, this sentence offers a useful conceptual take on the energy challenge which confronts us: how to push the world to geoeconomics rather than geopolitics in the scramble for energy. Exposing this broad dilemma is the book's prime contribution.

Mr. Manning is also useful in showing how one should approach the analysis of energy questions. Although some of his information is dated (the book came out in 2000), he demonstrates that energy is intricately linked to politics, economics, and geography; any analysis which fails to take so inclusive a view is bound to fail. (His section on Central Asia, in particular, is very good at this integrationist approach.) Mr. Manning's argument that Asia's energy situation can produce sufficient interdependence for cooperation is also very interesting.

To be honest, I diverge with Robert Manning on two counts: he confuses a country's domestic energy realities with its foreign policy. It is possible for a country to combine a commitment to markets with an aggressive foreign policy (there are various times when America and Britain would fit this profile). By referring to many countries' market friendliness he logically concludes that the prospects for conflict are diminished; but in assuming an identity between foreign and domestic policy, I believe that he errs.

(In a later article he exposes the dilemma in these terms: "It is unclear how Asian policy-makers will view the global politics of Asian energy markets. Will they view it through the lens of traditional geopolitics of real estate and sea-lane security? Or will they view it through the lens of geo-economics, where international investment, joint ventures and global cooperation rather than competition for resources and conflict is the prevalent means to satisfy energy security requirements?" But he resorts, again, to looking at domestic politics.)

My other disagreement is with Mr. Manning's unwillingness to explore the ways in which energy can lead to conflict; although I agree with his assessment that energy is often a mere manifestation of underlying geopolitical rivalry, it is still important to uncover the mechanics which can link energy to conflict. By choosing not to explore this idea in detail, I believe that is evades a very important subject.

These disagreements aside, the "Asian Energy Factor" is one of the most important contributions on the subject; by debunking some of the most important fallacies, Mr. Manning allows for the debate to focus on the significant topics. This is even more useful today than it was when the book was first published.

Paucities and Scarcities.......2001-05-23

An excellent work from one of our most important scholars on Asia. Riddled with numbers and graphs, the book is still readable for those just encountering energy politics. The referencing is also excellent, and allows one to delve further into the topic.

His initial chapters on environment/pollution and population growth/demand, and scarcity are important by themselves. Understanding the differences between a scarcity of resources and political limitations or economic bottlenecks on those resources is essential to being able to really forecast the strategic environment. Consequently, the time Manning spends belittling Paul Ehrlich and the Club of Rome is well spent. The country analyses are also very useful, and give one a sense not only of the economics of energy, but of the two way impact of energy and political relationships between countries. With our noble leaders beginning to evoke various fears about Asia, this is very important in understanding the nature and degree of "emerging threats."

Manning might be too bold in divorcing extending military interests with growing energy demands, but it is worth reading the book to develop an opinion on the subject.

I also recommend checking out the Energy Information Administrations's website, which Manning used heavily. It was of great use to me in a recent project: www.eia.doe.gov

Also useful is the cover piece of the January 2001 'Atlantic Monthly.' The piece, "The New Old Economy: Oil, Computers, and the Reinvention of the Earth," in helping advance perspectives of the oil industry. See: http://www.theatlantic.com/issues/2001/01/rauch.htm

Energy Interdependence as an Integrative Force.......2001-03-12

Robert Manning covers a lot of ground in this book, from the Caspian, to India, to Northeast Asia, and challenges a lot of established notions, but two of the points he makes really stand out:

First, he argues that energy interdependence is a potential positive force for Asian regional stability. While a number of analysts (from the serious scholar Kent Calder to the more shrill "Blue Team" types) have argued that China's entry onto the stage as a major oil importer will have serious negative consequences for regional stability, Manning argues that this is far from clear, and that it may actually have positive consequences. Other energy development issues looming in the future, such as the need for natural gas integration in Northeast Asia, can only be addressed by cooperation among regional governments and some degree of mutual interdependence.

Second, Manning points out in his preface how little contact and exchange there is between American analysts who focus on political and security issues, on the one hand, and those who focus on energy from an economic perspective. (As an example, he points out the differing views of the South China Sea between energy specialists and security policy analysts.) Energy issues involve tie-ins with a broad range of national security, economic, and environmental issues, and Manning argues that the policy community could benefit from more dialogue between these two separate sets of analysts. (I've long known this - since my own academic and professional background sort of straddles both groups.)

While the book does suffer a bit from poor editing in some spots, it is definitely a must-read for anyone interested in Asian security issues and/or the region's rapidly growing energy sector.

Intriguing Analysis of an Emerging Geopolitical Concern.......2001-03-01

Without a doubt, energy will be among one of the most important factors determining diplomatic behavior and relations in Asia in the coming decades. The Asian Energy Factor tackles this emerging geopolitical concern through an intriguing analysis of Asia's growing demand for energy and its global political, economic, and strategic consequences. Unique from other authors addressing this under-examined issue, Robert Manning sets the stage by exposing the myth that the world is quickly running out of oil. Technology and new methods of both collection and use of energy have made the impending energy crisis espoused by the doomsayers less of a concern. Manning proceeds to focus on the regional powers (China, India, Japan, Korea, and Southeast Asia) and where their individual energy abilities and needs puts them on the collective strategic map. He examines the commercial and political dynamic between the countries demanding increasing amounts of energy (China, Japan, and India) and those with the reserves (the Middle East and Southeast Asia).

As The Asian Energy Factor aptly points out, energy security is the crux upon which the economic, social, energy, and military policies of Asian nations converge; it is among the most critical issues in the coming decade. Manning delves deep into these economic and strategic complexities and continues to challenge the prevailing wisdom about Asian power structure and energy competition.

Confessions of an Economic Hit Man (BK Currents)
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Made me seriously reconsider my thinking

Greatly Enlighting and Truthfully Told

I Loved It

Truth teller of the highest caliber

John Perkins is an anti-Israel bigot

Confessions of an Economic Hit Man (BK Currents)
John Perkins
Manufacturer: Berrett-Koehler Publishers
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Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 1576753018

Amazon.com

John Perkins started and stopped writing Confessions of an Economic Hit Man four times over 20 years. He says he was threatened and bribed in an effort to kill the project, but after 9/11 he finally decided to go through with this expose of his former professional life. Perkins, a former chief economist at Boston strategic-consulting firm Chas. T. Main, says he was an "economic hit man" for 10 years, helping U.S. intelligence agencies and multinationals cajole and blackmail foreign leaders into serving U.S. foreign policy and awarding lucrative contracts to American business. "Economic hit men (EHMs) are highly paid professionals who cheat countries around the globe out of trillions of dollars," Perkins writes. Confessions of an Economic Hit Man is an extraordinary and gripping tale of intrigue and dark machinations. Think John Le Carré, except it's a true story.

Perkins writes that his economic projections cooked the books Enron-style to convince foreign governments to accept billions of dollars of loans from the World Bank and other institutions to build dams, airports, electric grids, and other infrastructure he knew they couldn't afford. The loans were given on condition that construction and engineering contracts went to U.S. companies. Often, the money would simply be transferred from one bank account in Washington, D.C., to another one in New York or San Francisco. The deals were smoothed over with bribes for foreign officials, but it was the taxpayers in the foreign countries who had to pay back the loans. When their governments couldn't do so, as was often the case, the U.S. or its henchmen at the World Bank or International Monetary Fund would step in and essentially place the country in trusteeship, dictating everything from its spending budget to security agreements and even its United Nations votes. It was, Perkins writes, a clever way for the U.S. to expand its "empire" at the expense of Third World citizens. While at times he seems a little overly focused on conspiracies, perhaps that's not surprising considering the life he's led. --Alex Roslin

Book Description

Confessions of an Economic Hit Man reveals a game that, according to John Perkins, is "as old as Empire" but has taken on new and terrifying dimensions in an era of globalization. And Perkins should know. For many years he worked for an international consulting firm where his main job was to convince LDCs (less developed countries) around the world to accept multibillion-dollar loans for infrastructure projects and to see to it that most of this money ended up at Halliburton, Bechtel, Brown and Root, and other United States engineering and construction companies. This book, which many people warned Perkins not to write, is a blistering attack on a little-known phenomenon that has had dire consequences on both the victimized countries and the U.S.

Customer Reviews:

Made me seriously reconsider my thinking.......2007-06-28

As I got towards the end of the book I couldn't help but think of current events in South America. I look at Hugo Chavez in a different light now. Not neccesarily a positive light, but definitely in a different light. The connection of George Schultz and Casper Weinberger from Bechtel to Gov't positions was very enlightening. Now I realize why some countries do indeed hate us.

Greatly Enlighting and Truthfully Told.......2007-06-27

A must read, absolutely absorbing an on point. Highly recommended to anyone who wants to broaden their scope on our government's foreign policies and their unfortunate consequences on humanity around the world.

I Loved It.......2007-06-27

I found this book to be one of the most enlightening commentaries on American foreign policy that I have ever read. It has opened my eyes to a whole new viewpoint on America's supposed altruistic leadership in the realm of global politics. While many of us citizens would like to view our efforts to "help" poorer nations to advance their standard of living as a charitable exercise Mr. Perkins makes it clear that our government has always been pursuing an entirely separate agenda.

What is striking to me is that while these efforts appear to be directed in our national self-interest they are emphatically not in our enlightened self interest. The long-term consequence of our selfish pursuit of material resources at the expense of third-world populations and our ceaseless attempts to install puppet governments around the globe are the steady erosion of our nation's credibility and standing in the world. Perkins drives this point home clearly in the book.

As a nation we seem peplexed when the United Nations fails to slavishly follow our agenda. Perkins' historical narrative exposes the reasons why other countries see that it is not in their interests to cooperate with the United States. Perkins' illustration of this point alone is enlightening and makes the book a worthy read.

I agree with a previous reviewer that the book is short on analysis of events outside of Mr. Perkins' personal experiences. I too found that this book made me interested in the other works which the author sites (Getting to Know the General and House of Bush / House of Saud).

I also believe that Perkins' "solutions" are naive and somewhat confessional. He seems to be a man who is trying to atone for his past by espousing a leftist agenda that has little chance of success and which seems utterly naive for a man with his experience. He doesn't provide any possibility for a modification or improvement of our capitalist system. Instead he states that we should just stop what we are doing and change our ways. I don't think this is a workable solution and that is my main criticism of this work.

Nonetheless, I think this book is a must read for anyone who hopes to develop a deeper perspective on modern political issues.

Truth teller of the highest caliber.......2007-06-25

John's book illuminates the underworld of American corporatism and the dysfunctional US government controlled by the most dishonest individuals one can find on the planet. This is more than an adventure story, it peels back the layers of dishonesty of bottom feeders running the global show. Perkins insight demonstrates how the system works to margnialize Third World Nations and further dehumanize the poor. The role of the United States does not escape his penetrating observation, nor his negative critique of the power elite and their abundant greed! This book is not for people who need to be told what to think by their Republican or Democratic handlers, but rather for modern day visionaries taking action in the world to reveal the truth about modern politics and provide the necessay courage to make a stand. If you regard a political party as your personal saviour think again about reading this book. If, on the other hand, you want to wake up to planetary healing, this book is a first step.

John Perkins is an anti-Israel bigot.......2007-06-24

I read his book which has many excellent ideas on how to make this world a better place. Unfortunately, that world that he envisions is a wold with out Israel. I just heard him tell an audience on c-span "why did we (the US)put the Jews in the Middle East in the middle of all of those Arabs." He is clearly part of this new radical left-wing anti-Israel anti-Jewish bigots. I am very sorry that I bought his book. I highly recommend that anybody who believes that Israel has a right to exist not to put money into the coffers of this bigot. What I heard him say on c-span to this Israeli women demonstrates what an indecent human being John Perkins really is. What a shame.

Lives at Risk: Single-Payer National Health Insurance Around the World

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Health Care
too much rethoric about free market
How Sould Health Care Be Funded And Distributed?
Health Care in the Hands of Bureaucrats
Must read for health care reform

Lives at Risk: Single-Payer National Health Insurance Around the World
John C. Goodman , Gerald L. Musgrave , and Devon M. Herrick
Manufacturer: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0742541525

Book Description

Lives at Risk identifies 20 myths about health care as delivered in countries that have national health insurance. These myths have gained the status of fact in both the United States and abroad, even though the evidence shows a far different reality. The authors also explore the political and economic climate of the health care system and offer alternatives to the current health care public policies.

Customer Reviews:

Health Care .......2007-05-22

Goodman and associates provide a valuable alternative look inside the single-payer, national, universal access health systems of Europe and Canada. This book is long overdue.

I teach a college class in comparative health systems that contrasts the U.S. health system with those of other nations and I use this book as an alternative text. I warn students that it is a polemic; Goodman is on a mission. But since the great mass of academic texts are written by professors in love with Europe and in contempt of the U.S. failure to insure 43 million citizens, this book is a welcome splash of cold water in the face.

The problem is that neither Europe nor the U.S. have solved moral hazard. As long as government, or our tax-subsidized employer, is pre-paying our healthcare, and we can leave your wallet at home and demand all the tests and treatments we are allowed, we are in trouble. It is a big Las Vegas buffet and we are all high-rollers pigging out and over-eating because the tab is on the house.

The result will be disaster in Europe as the aging population increases its demands on a limited supply of younger workers. The disaster in the U.S., with Social Security and Medicare/Medicaid already on track to consume the entire federal budget, is well publicized.

Goodman solution is a revamped Health Savings Account (HSAs) that make each of us responsible.

Whether agree that HSAs are the answer, or prefer some other approach, read this book. Racing to establish universal entitlement is a recipe for univeral disaster.

too much rethoric about free market.......2006-03-03

this is very interesting book providing a huge amount of useful data about different health systems in the world, although the presentation is scattered, irregular and according to the Authors` design, more than to a planned and rational description. Their interpretation of the data provided is not always acceptable. They use the old tactic of attributing something false to the enemy to attack it. They create a "myth" about national health sysems whcih nobody ever stated or believed and they used it to show the weakness of NHS. After completing the book I was even more convinced of the benefit of health systems such as those existing in Europe and in canada compared to the US. Their critique by the Authors might indeed be useful in spotting their limitations ( obody says they are perfect) and correcting them

How Sould Health Care Be Funded And Distributed?.......2005-06-03

Is it the mess we have now, single-payer or something else? Health care and health insurance are not delivered effectively to all Americans in the framework of the free enterprise system. I am a big believer in the markets and the free enterprise system for most services and most products. However, health care and health insurance do not fit for many reasons in free markets. There must be a better way to be care for the health of our people.

Health Insurance Companies cherry pick the most healthy people to insure and try to avoid all persons who do not fit into the category of most healty. Therefore, the folks that need health care the most in order to function properly in our free markets have the most difficult time obtaining health insurance.

Health Care in the Hands of Bureaucrats.......2005-01-19

There is little disagreement among stakeholders in the U.S. health care system--patients, insurers, physicians, policy analysts, and the like--that America's health care system must change to adjust to the twenty-first century. But what to do?

Some observers advocate a return to the fee-for-service health care arrangement that prevailed in the 1950s. Others want to move in the opposite direction, toward the government-run health care bureaucracies common in other developed countries.

Advocates of the latter approach, known as universal or single-payer health insurance, are a minority in the U.S. health policy debate--but they are vocal and well-funded. In Lives at Risk, John Goodman, Gerald Musgrave, and Devon Herrick urge that we disregard pleas for such a drastic change in our approach to health care until we carefully consider whether such a system--failing in every country where it currently exists--could possibly be effective and efficient for the U.S.

Goodman is founder and president of the Dallas, Texas-based National Center for Policy Analysis (NCPA); Musgrave and Herrick are NCPA senior fellows. In Lives at Risk, they examine in microscopic detail the many flaws in the structure of single-payer health insurance, and they provide evidence that single-payer social policy is not in the best interest of consumers.

They explain, for example, how universal health insurance systems encourage over-consumption by patients, and how such over-consumption always leads to financial crises and broken promises of universal access and quality care. "One of the cardinal beliefs of advocates of single-payer health insurance is that health care should be free at the point of consumption, regardless of willingness or ability to pay," they write. Not surprisingly, such "free" medical care is over-utilized--to the point where demand exceeds the system's ability to sustain supply.

Promise Clashes with Reality

Goodman and his coauthors reveal how the promise of "health care for all" under a single-payer system clashes with reality. "The promise of national health insurance," they explain, "is that government will make health care available on the basis of need rather than the ability to pay." But in reality, single-payer systems tend to overspend on primary care for the healthy, while denying more expensive specialist care to those with serious medical problems.

The evidence creates a sharp contrast between the U.S. health care system and single-payer systems abroad. Although single-payer advocates claim their approach delivers health care more efficiently, more equitably, and at lower cost than our system, those claims crack open under the weight of the data.

According to Lives at Risk, wherever national health care is the only option, rationing by waiting is the norm. Rationing decisions are made by local health care bureaucrats, who are responsible only for spending, not healing.

Lives at Risk should be required reading for academics and policymakers of all opinions on health policy reform--and also for the medical community, consumers, advocates of single-payer insurance, and journalists who report on the issue. Newt Gingrich, former speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, suggests in an editorial review, "This book will be an eye-opener for anyone who thinks a government-run system is the solution for our healthcare problem."

Information Age Requires New Approach

Dr. Robert Hamilton, a retired general and vascular surgeon living in Alton, Illinois, sees Lives at Risk from a physician's point of view. "Although this book is a brilliant exposition of the grand-scale effects of single payer health care financing and the economics of health care delivery, the implications for individual physicians and their patients are enormous," he noted

"Systemic inefficiencies, which interfere with timely, appropriate diagnosis and treatment of the individual patient, are dangerous and frustrating for physicians and patients alike in a system dominated by a government health care bureaucracy."

Hamilton suggests, "The way out of our professional doldrums is not through greater control of our profession by outside forces, but by making the patient-physician relationship the driving force. This book will restore optimism to those physicians whose frustration with imposed systems has nearly led them to give up on their noble profession."

Goodman, Musgrave, and Herrick do not just make a hard-boiled assessment of single-payer systems and then run for cover. They also turn their attention to the U.S. health care system. Instead of the usual worn-out generalities and obsolete assumptions, they point to specific problems and lay out specific ways to harness the intelligence of consumers and the power of the free market to improve health care in the U.S.

"The modern era has inherited two models of health insurance: the fee-for-service model and the HMO model. Neither is appropriate for the Information Age," they write. "Both models assume that (1) the amount of sickness is limited and largely outside the control of the insured, (2) methods of treating illness are limited and well-defined, and (3) because of patient ignorance and asymmetry of information, treatment decisions will always be filtered by physicians, based on their own knowledge and experience or clinical practice guidelines."

Regardless of whether the reader agrees with the authors' conclusions, Lives at Risk helps us understand how different policy approaches might lead to two very different outcomes for the U.S. health care system: complete meltdown under single-payer health care, or transformation into a system driven by consumer demand instead of health care bureaucrats and political expediency.

Conrad F. Meier (meier@heartland.org) is senior fellow in health policy at The Heartland Institute and Editor Emeritus Health Care News

Must read for health care reform.......2004-11-05

LIVES AT RISK is a must read for anyone interested in reforming the U.S. health care system. Goodman, Musgrave, and Herrick, stern critics of the existing system, warn against looking to Canada, the U.K., and other single-payer systems for solutions. ..... Opponents of single-payer insurance will find their views strongly validated by the mountains of carefully documented evidence in LIVES AT RISK. At the same time, open-minded proponents will learn the weaknesses in what they advocate; the book will lead some to rethink their support, and others to work harder in honing their arguments. Either way, the single-payer proponent who reads this book will become a smarter advocate of whatever views he holds afterwards. ..... LIVES AT RISK calmly, carefully catalogs and eviscerates widely held beliefs about the virtues of single-payer schemes. The authors methodically reveal how claims diverge from reality. The evidence in LIVES AT RISK paints a sharp contrast between the current American system (which the authors wish to change) and the single-payer systems abroad. Single-payer systems solemnly pledge that all citizens have a right to health care, whereas America does not. Yet by measure after measure, it is America that provides more complete, more egalitarian, more high-quality health care than do single-payer systems. Single-payer proponents argue that Canada, Britain, and others deliver health care more cheaply, more efficiently, and more equitably, but in LIVES AT RISK these lofty claims dissolve beneath the data. Again, a reasoned proponent of single-payer insurance can dispute the data presented, but he will have to work harder to do so, and that will enrich the public debate we need. ..... Goodman, Musgrave, and Herrick are not merely bomb-throwers who demolish single-payer insurance and then retire to the drawing room. Having addressed the failings they see in single-payer systems, they then turn toward the task of reforming the American system. They propose specific ways to harness the desires and intelligence of consumers to create a better system in the U.S. Once again, whether or not the reader buys the authors' proposals, he or she will leave the book with a far greater understanding of the task ahead.

Maestro : Greenspan's Fed and the American Boom

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I Can't Believe I LOVED a Book on Greenspan!
Maestro
How to feel your way to the correct interest rate
Fed primer
Fed Chief Profile Okay But Dry

Maestro : Greenspan's Fed and the American Boom
Bob Woodward
Manufacturer: Simon & Schuster
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Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0743205626
Release Date: 2001-10-23

Amazon.com

Bob Woodward called his biography of Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan Maestro for two reasons. First, Greenspan is a musician. He started out as a Julliard-trained jazz sax man. "He wasn't a good improviser," Woodward reports. And while the other guys got stoned all night, Greenspan "read economics and business books and eventually became the band's bookkeeper." He also cultivated powerful pals, like Ayn Rand, whose coterie dubbed the dour young man "The Undertaker."

More profoundly, Greenspan is a maestro, a conductor, exquisitely attuned to every instrument in the political and economic orchestra. He rules by consensus, but with a firm hand and notoriously inscrutable words. Marvelously, Woodward relates that Greenspan had to propose twice to his wife, the violinist-turned-TV news star Andrea Mitchell, before she understood: "His verbal obscurity and caution were so ingrained that Mitchell didn't even know that he had asked her to marry him." Woodward gives us the inside story of what Greenspan really thinks and how he outmaneuvered the most ruthless politicians on earth in some of the hairiest times imaginable, from the 1987 stock market crash to the 1994-95 Mexican crisis to the stomach-churning turn of the century. It turns out that for all his awesome knowledge of monetary minutiae, the Fed chief literally relies on "a pain in the pit of my stomach" to make decisions. "At times, he found his body sensed danger before his head," writes Woodward. The Fed chief also adapts Einstein's technique to economics, hunting for discrepancies as keys to deeper theories. Einstein made breakthroughs out of bent light; Greenspan deduced productivity gains that government statisticians had overlooked for years. (The gains appeared when Greenspan made the statisticians calculate productivity by business sector, the way it's done in the real world.)

Woodward's prose is cool and rational, not exuberant. But if you're into economics and politics, you'll find a rich gossip trove here. Who knew Reagan had a draft of a presidential order to shut down Wall Street trading at hand in 1987? Scary! Reading Maestro is better than sitting with Greenspan in his famous tub as he charts your future--it's like being right there inside his head. --Tim Appelo

Book Description

Perhaps the last Washington secret is how the Federal Reserve and its enigmatic chairman, Alan Greenspan, operate. In Maestro, Bob Woodward uses his proven interviewing and research techniques to take you inside the Fed and Greenspan's thinking. Woodward presents the Greenspan years as a gripping narrative, a remarkable portrait of a man who has become the symbol of American economic preeminence.

Download Description

Woodward's bestselling "The Agenda" presented a thrilling, intimate portrait of the making of economic policy during President Clinton's first year in office. The author now returns to the economic arena to examine why and how the present boom came to be.

Customer Reviews:

I Can't Believe I LOVED a Book on Greenspan!.......2007-04-10

I read this book wanting to be better informed about how The Fed and Greenspan operate, and wound up being nicely informed and entertained. Understanding how banks, the White House and political appointments co-exist in the field of economics, I never thought I would ever use the phrase "hard-to-put-down" in connection with an economics/banking book but this one really did it for me. It is a genuine page turner and definitely Woodward's most underrated and under-discussed books. (No caller mentioned this work during his 3-hour C-Span interview a few months back.) Get your hands on a copy of this book and prepare for an interesting and enjoyable ride. My one complaint: I wish it were longer. Although this book answered all my "Fed" questions, I wished its time track would continue to the present, or perhaps delve a little deeper into the past. But this minor complaint notwithstanding, the book was an excellent and engaging read.