“A debut book delivers an appraisal of what ails Western economies…Al-Nakeeb, an independent scholar with graduate economics training and a four-decade career in financial markets, surveys classical, Marxist, Keynesian, and neoclassical economics. He concludes that only genuine democracies…as after World War II, have shown any effectiveness in quelling cyclical financial crises wrought by extremes of laissez-faire self-interest or authoritarian societal-interest. He proffers a “unified theory of macroeconomic failure.” Its précis: “A moral deficit, typically driven by plutocratic greed for wealth gathering, causes a democratic deficit, inferior public choice, immoral policies, economic inefficiency, and negative externalities, culminating in macroeconomic failure.” In other words, a greedy few use wealth to grab political power, rig the system, and enslave the debt-ridden many, à la the 2008 subprime meltdown…The author dismembers with a deceptively light touch… His prose is crystal clear and flows like silk. He displays command of the subject and provides rational evidence for his sweeping conclusions…he accomplishes his goal to “give economics a good stir,” and presents his case in language accessible to all. His confident predictions that the Eurozone will unravel and Western banks will fail to avoid another crisis look prescient following the Brexit vote.
An audacious and caustic financial work that deserves wide readership and close academic scrutiny.”—Kirkus Reviews
“At the heart of Al-Nakeeb’s tour de force is the… irreconcilable democracy and…“parasitic capitalism.”…the inherently flawed classical economic models…still exhorted by “notable” economists as if gospel…his “Unified Theory of Macroeconomic Failure,” consists of identifying those “negative externalities” where the social costs far exceed the private cost, as causing economic failure…include irrational taxes, amplified economic cyclicality, the re-emergence of monopolies and monopsonies, along with the subversion of democracy by plutocracy and what he characterizes as immorality in public policy.
…Al-Nakeeb’s own scholarly and professional background clearly inform the detailed treatment he gives to the discussion of the negative externalities…providing a variety of economic solutions, including equity financing models to replace debt, excise taxes on interest and splitting personal taxation (one on earned income and one on personal capital). He also advocates a redistributive tax on extreme wealth.
… He acknowledges the need for “students of political science” to “shed more light on the role of plutocratic motives in historical political developments.” Al-Nakeeb correctly observes that “macroeconomics is very political.” The privileged few seek to protect its power and wealth, making avarice and “political motivation” two sides of the same coin…the concentration of media into a few large corporations keeps the citizenry properly un(miss-)informed…Concentrations of wealth allow the powerful interests to engineer elections…the 1980s…“counter-revolution.”…Al-Nakeeb notes that Western governments find themselves today waiting passively for the next economic crisis to hit, calling the “Great Recession of 2008” “an alarm bell.” He believes that while the next crisis carries the potential for greater hardship should the plutocracy persist in their present policies, there is promise of the next crisis becoming “the great cleanser”…
Al-Nakeeb’s contribution with this book is invaluable - not only in the wealth of insight it provides, but in the ease with which it is provided - easily consumable by those not versed in economics, finance or political theory.”—Portland Book Review