Thursday, May 3, 2012



Conventional wisdom blames Wall Street greed, President Bush’s deregulation, and predatory lending for the financial crisis now facing America
But are they truly to blame?
Controversial new book says no!

In a new book out next week, financier Edward Conard reveals how the misdiagnosis of the financial crisis has slowed economic recovery. Exhaustively researched, Unintended Consequences: Why Everything You’ve Been Told About the Economy is Wrong (Penguin/Portfolio, May 2012) dismantles widely held beliefs on the economy, identifies what really caused the meltdown, and prescribes what will actually get America back on track—and quickly. Conard explains how many of today’s so-called economic solutions like redistribution and government regulations deliver a stranglehold on growth.

Is Occupy Wall Street the conscience of America or does their message carry the seeds of destruction for American greatness?

UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES points out how no other high-wage economy has done more for the poor, and how in the end commerce, not charity or redistribution, is the salvation of the poor. Successful risk takers and corporate enterprise put American workers, immigrants, and the globe to work, not government handouts.

Despite popular belief, the United States poured more investment into innovation than any other developed economy. American know-how and risk-taking created companies like Google, Facebook, Microsoft, Intel, Apple, Cicso, Adobe, Oracle, Wikipedia, YouTube, Twitter, Amazon, and EBay. The rest of the world created next to nothing.

Attacking success is not the way to move the economy forward.

In UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES, Conard demonstrates how America will only climb out of its current economic doldrums when we embrace policies that promote risk taking and innovation. The prescription of groups like Occupy Wall Street will only take us down a road of ruin. If the “Occupiers” really want to help the “99%” they will go home and put their talents to good use and help boost innovation and American productivity.

UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES is not a book that takes a couple of insights and expands them into 300 pages; rather, it addresses the entire scope of the economy. It's a fascinating and contrarian case for how the economy really works, what went wrong over the past decade, and what steps we can take to start growing again.

Edward Conard was a partner at Bain Capital from 1993 to 2007 where he worked side-by-side with Mitt Romney. He served as the head of Bain's New York office and led the firm's acquisitions of large industrial companies. He sits on several boards of directors including the board of the Waters Corporation. 

“This could be the most hated book of the year.”
Adam Davidson, The New York Times

“There are an amazing number of good ideas and interesting points made in this book. The thinking underlying it and the obvious depth of understanding of the author are very impressive.”
Steven Levitt, coauthor, FREAKONOMICS

“Ed Conard presents the most cogent and persuasive analysis of the financial crisis to date. It is deeper and likely more accurate than what we have seen so far.”
Andrei Shleifer, Professor of Economics, Harvard University

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