The Great Deformation

The Corruption of Capitalism in America

By: David Stockman

Narrated by: William Hughes

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.

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!

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!

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

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