Acknowledgments xiii 1 It?s About You?You Are Responsible Too 1
Part 1 Our Belief in The Free Market Failed Us 9
2 Too Much Choice, Too Little Restraint 11
Fetch the Tool Box 11
Economics Is Not Rocket Science: It Is Not Even Science 16
How Has Economics Failed Us? Let Me Count the Ways 17
A DVD Player Should Cost More than Lunch 19
For Richer and Poorer 20
3 A Broken Financial System 23
Consumption, Not Love, Was the Drug 23
How Far Is Down? 26
Consumer Debt 27
Bank Debt 32
Government Debt 39
4 Squandering Our World 47
Who Owns the World?s Resources? 47
You Don?t Like These Principles? I Have Others 50
We?ll Know What It?s Worth When It?s Gone 51
Our Rare Earth 52
Seven Billion into Water Won?t Go 54
Laissez-Faire, No Thanks 55
5 The Damaging Power of Me 61
Me, Myself, I 61
The Retreat of Conservatism 63
Kiasu. Bless You 64
Greed Is Not Good, Gordon 65
Part 2 Running Blind?We Are Poorly Equipped to Deal with These
Challenges 69
6 Can You Read Kant? 71
Don?t Start from Here 71
Well, Duh! 74
Going My Way? 78
7 Who Is in Charge? 81
Someone Needs to Make Decisions 81
Nothing Is Terrible Except Fear Itself 83
Man Is Born Free but Everywhere Is in Chains 84
Who Is in Charge? 89
8 China?s Rising Influence Will Not Help 93
It Can Get Worse 93
The Dragon Is Awake 94
Of Privileges and Principles 96
There Is Anger Too 100
Be Careful What You Wish For 104
Playing for Power 106
Part 3 The Implications of These Failures Will Be Hard 117
9 We Will Become Financially Poorer 119
But Answers Are Easy, Aren?t They? 120
The Long Tail 121
All Comes Tumbling Down 123
Goodbye Stimulus Packages, Hello Savage State Cutbacks 125
More Air Will Not Work 128
You Need Another Hole in That Belt 129
10 Our Way of Life Will Change 133
In the Energy Battles, No One Will Play Nicely 134
When You Are in a Hole, Keep Digging 138
Shine Some Light on the Problem 146
11 We Will Become Less Healthy 151
How Much Oil Is in That Salad? 154
I?ll Give the Scalpel a Wipe Then 158
Was That a Cough? 159
The Buzz Has Gone 162
12 We Need to Diffuse the Threats of Conflict 169
We Do Things Differently, Don?t You See? 171
The Cupboard Will Soon Be Bare 174
But You Promised! 180
Climate Change Will Bring Threats of Confl ict Too 182
Part 4 Light in an Age of ?Endarkenment? 185
13 We Need to Change 187
You Just Need a New Washer, Mate 188
14 Other Options Need Debate 203
From Progress to Poverty 203
Give the Flowers the Power 204
That Pip Squeak? 207
15 You. You Have a Role Now Too 219
Index 223
Graeme Maxton is an economist, author and presenter, well-known for his punchy, clearly-articulated analysis on global affairs. A freelance contributor to The Economist for many years he also writes for a variety of other publications in Europe and Asia. He is a frequent host on CNBC's Squawk Box and Capital Connection and a regular guest on BBC and CNN news programs. He is the co-author of two previous books, Driving Over a Cliff , which was nominated for the Best Book About Business Award, and Time for a Model Change . He is based in Vienna and Singapore.
"Wide in scope, lucid in style--but never pedestrian--this book convinces you that you'll read more about Maxton in the immediate future." -- Devarajan Mahadevan, MoneyLife (3 Nov. 2011)
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