The Great Deformation

The Corruption of Capitalism in America

By: David Stockman

Narrated by: William Hughes

Length: 36 hrs and 43 mins

Publisher's summary

A coruscating, brilliantly insightful exegesis of where capitalism went wrong, how it was corrupted, and how it might be restored, by outspoken former Reagan budget director and best-selling author David Stockman.

David Stockman was the architect of the Reagan Revolution that was meant to restore sound money principles to the United States government. It failed, derailed by politics, special interests, welfare, and warfare. In The Great Deformation, Stockman describes how the working of free markets and democracy has long been under threat in America and provides a surprising, nonpartisan catalog of the corrupters and defenders. His analysis overturns the assumptions of Keynesians and monetarists alike, showing how both liberal and neoconservative interference in markets has proved damaging and often dangerous. Over time, crony capitalism has made fools of us all, transforming Republican treasury secretaries into big-government interventionists and populist Democrat presidents into industry-wrecking internationalists. Today’s national debt stands at nearly $16 trillion. Divided equally among taxpayers, each of us is $52,000 in debt. This book explains how we got here—and why this warped crony capitalism has betrayed so many of our hopes and dreams.

©2013 David A. Stockman (P)2013 Blackstone Audio, Inc

Critic reviews

"Stockman performs a real service when he debunks the myths that have been associated with Reagan’s conservatism and promotes Eisenhower’s fiscal and military conservatism…Stockman forcefully conveys enormous amounts of knowledge." ( Kirkus Reviews)

Reads like a text for $5 words and coloquialisms

Is there anything you would change about this book?

The style of writing is extremely annoying. It's hard enough to follow an audiobook that is full of statistics and dates, followed by names and positions; but Stockman makes it even more difficult by showcasing his capacious and abstruse vocabulary (if those don't ring a bell for you...then this book probably isn't for you). He frequently uses rarely used and technical language followed by something akin to a pop-culture reference. It causes the listener to have to rewind and re-listen to portions again and again. In addition, I got tired of hearing the constant hyperbole in virtually every chapter. I realize that costly mistakes were made by men in power in the past, but not every mistake can be a "monumental blunder of epic proportions". While I did find much of the information useful, and I was thankful for the thorough explanation of the topics discussed, I would probably have preferred a book with less discussion about the Great Depression in favor of a book that focused on more recent history. 30+ hours is a very long book. The narrator does an excellent job in my opinion, but the content is just not at the same level.

Reality of the U.S. Central Bank's affect

Great information about the looming fiscal disaster in America if politicians are unchecked without limits

VERY TECHNICAL - HARD TO FOLLOW

There is a lot of good stuff in this book - but I found it hard to follow.
The excessive use of economic jargon left me lost in many places.

He makes many good points but the delivery is more complex and technical than it needs to be.
Perhaps for those whose who are working in the finance sector it may be Ok, but for an engineer like me - it was pretty hard going for a lot of the time.
I do however agree with his overalll conclusions:'
- Capitalism has been taken captive by some elusive group
- The American tax payer has been robbed greviously of over $700 billion
- America is on the verge of financial collapse.

It's all here

Would you consider the audio edition of The Great Deformation to be better than the print version?

Not read print version so no basis for comparison.

What did you like best about this story?

Efficient and comprehensive coverage of a vast topic.

Have you listened to any of William Hughes’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

No I have not.

If you could give The Great Deformation a new subtitle, what would it be?

It's all in here!

Any additional comments?

Superb work!

Eye opening and filled with information

I'm only about 1/2 way through this audiobook but wanted to write a review anyways.
From the start of this book I was highly engaged even though it is filled with more data, stats, and numbers than I could realistically consume. It was very eye opening and even though it does jump a round quite a bit, its like a history lesson told from financial side of things. It gives you a new perspective on government, politics, and political figures. Money changes everything.

I actually feel like everyone should listen to this book. Even though quite a bit goes over my head, and there is so much information to consume, there are parts that will really stand out to you. You'll gain an understanding of how our financial system works, and fails... and might open your eyes to the future. Highly recommended.

A tour de force of quantitative data and insight into the outcomes of economic policy

Mr. Stockman's well written book provides a distinct perspective on the history of U.S. economic policy as well as his own thesis about the present impact of the policies of this and previous decades. He also constructs a coherent argument regarding the future impact of today's policies and some alternatives for future economic policy.

This book is a tour de force of quantitative data and insight into the outcomes of economic policy.

It is a provocative book. His data-driven approach should both challenge and inform intelligent laypeople and professional economists who must make personal and professional judgments about the economic well being of the nation.

I have read it twice as well as listened to the audio version.

It's a sad, sad story

Would you listen to The Great Deformation again? Why?

No, this is a tough read and seems to get repetitious. I will definitely listen to select bits again, but not the whole sad story of betrayal.

What was the most interesting aspect of this story? The least interesting?

The sad fact is that it seems to all have the ring of truth. True capitalism has been assassinated by the crony capitalism version favored by government.

What’s the most interesting tidbit you’ve picked up from this book?

Low interest rates have corrupted the price finding mechanism of the market.

Any additional comments?

At the end of the book, Stockman makes some recommendations as to how the train wreck might be averted. However, everything he proposes leaves you thinking, "Yeah right, that will never happen."

Rebuttal of 1 star review

Any additional comments?

I could not wait for 36 hours to rebut the 1 star review, so after 1 hour of listening I give this book the highest marks for content and production. Finally someone who understands both Government and finance lays out in understandable and chronological order how crony capitalism, an unchecked FED and bigger and bigger government is destroying free market capitalism and prosperity in this country.

Should be a required read by all students!

First, I have to say it's a bit long and David repeats himself a couple of times. But the description of political processes and why things happened in the 60's, 70's, 80's, 90's and now is instrumental in understanding what the issues are, why we face them, and how to change so this country can survive.

You can't possibly understand the complexity of the political issues and financial troubles we have, until you read or listen to this book.

Great job David!

Loads of Information but problematic writing

This is an excellently supported book that goes into extraordinary detail of the US economy from the period leading up to the great depression to the present. This is not a quick or easy listen. The author may be an expert in economics but he is not an expert writer. The book is very long and filled with annoying mixed metaphors (that are sometimes so bad they are funny), cliches repeated ad nauseam, and jumps wildly between temporally distant causes and effects and from one subject to another. Thus I can’t say this was a pleasure of a listen. Nevertheless the author makes quite a few really excellent points. The author shows extreme political independence casting blame and praise regardless of party. The book is also quite a downer, filled with doom and gloom with almost no way out. This book is filled with facts and statistics that are key to understanding our economic past and future. I did not agree with everything the author proposes (the gold standard), but I was surprised by how much I found quite convincing. Clearly this tomb is not for everyone. This is more than a bit dry and detailed oriented, yet I found it a very rational alternative view of modern economics,