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)

Scary

Outstanding. Explains the crony capitalism system we now suffer under.. Brilliant analysis.. Listened to it over and over..

Important for anyone who cares about America

Stockman has the qualifications and experience to analyze and provide tough love solutions for our increasingly sick economy. Wonky, long, and quirky, the book is nevertheless riveting and alarming.

plethora of information. but not a quick read

great information but not for economic studies novices. I found myself having to stop the book to look up concepts quite frequently. many of the references to stock market terms, actions, and general economic theory required me to stop and look up concepts separately to understand as there aren't introductions or explanations to the concepts.

Why Isn't the American Economy Working?

What made the experience of listening to The Great Deformation the most enjoyable?

If you have any interest in what is going on in the United States economically, and why things are not working out as the "talking heads" from the Obama Administration to CNBC keep promising us they are, then you need to listen to this book.

We know something is wrong. And it is not as simple as Democrats versus Republicans.

Which scene was your favorite?

Chapters 32 and beyond tie up all the loose strings and takes a look at where we are today, why things are worse than we believe, and what, if anything can be done to change our direction.

Not to be pessimistic, but it will take a seismic shift to change things for the United States, and that shift will not be painless.

But it will be less painful that what we have coming if we just do nothing.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

I have been a student of the economy for many decades. But I was never able to tie the role of government malfeasance together with what was happening beyond the last one or two administrations.

Stockman makes it perfectly clear. This is not and has not been a Democratic or a Republican created crisis. Instead, it is a crisis of meddlers in an economic system called Capitalism, and they have meddled with it without grasping what they were doing.

We have sacrificed long term gain for short-term jumps in consumption over and over again, with no regard for how we are going to replace that consumption that we pulled from the future into today's market.

And we have sacrificed a solid money supply for one of fiat money, where budgets do not matter(Thank you Richard Nixon).

Meanwhile we approach $20 trillion in deficits with artificially low interest rates, which have encouraged even more borrowing. Thank you Alan Greenspan and Ben Bernanke.

Any additional comments?

If you think the rules of the the United States economy have changed and you think the rules of investing have changed, you are right.

Stockman goes back to the roots of this rotten tree and explains in very good detail how we got here, and why we are dying economically, even though we are told over and over and over again that the economy is turning the corner. It isn't.

This book is long, but well worth the listening time to complete. Our future economic success has been placed into the hands of just a few single points of failure.

It's important you know why it's failing, so that you can prepare for what is certainly coming in the not too distant future for the United States.

An important message, a bit weak in the telling

Mr. Stockman certainly has the credentials to back up his thesis, and the message is an important one for our times. Not only was he a member of President Reagan's Office of Management and Budget, he spent many years working in the world of banking and finance, and actually ran a real, decently sized business for several years.

However his writing style leaves something to be desired. He tends to overuse superlative and hyperbole, and some of his images and analogies are obscure. There are far too many adjectives -- the book could probably have been reduced by 25% without affecting the message, just by getting rid of the extra words.

Another difficulty that the listener may experience is that the timelines tend to be convoluted. A recent train of events is related and then the story jumps back to the early 20th century to fill in historical background and identify the causes which let to the recent events. I am not sure that the story could have been told better in a different way, however: it is a very complex subject and he covers it in detail.

This book is definitely important if one wishes to understand how the US economy got into its current situation.

Finally a book by someone who ACTUALLY understands how the economy works

A great no nonsense book, and very easy to listen too for those interested in economics. Obviously it’s pretty long, but the Narrator does a great job. Highly recommend!

Valuable information, but a lot of repeating

Hard to get through. Phased out multiple times, even though the information seems spot on and very valuable. Information seems to repeat excessively.

Good book but way too long

If you are a finance guy or into finance, economics and how we got into the mess we are in today, and don’t mind tedious details and getting into every single corner, this book is for you.
I am a finance guy myself and rarely I am able to find a book that could get me bored of this subject but this book was certainly able to accomplish that; the book is too long and can be made shorter/smaller and still provide enough details.
I got half way through then I just couldn’t justify the time I am spending listening to this book as there are much better books I can utilize my limited time to listen to.
That being said, the book does provide valuable information,, is filled with good stories and has a good sequence of events from the very start.

A super in-depth look at corruption and statism

A super in-depth look at corruption and statism. A great look at the rise of corporatism and government interference in the market.

Laborious listening

I did my best, I'm interested in the subject and the historic approach, but this is repetitive, full of lingo, and exhausting. I gave up.