Political Finance

In a sweeping narrative about the people and the politics behind the budget, Pulitzer Prize–winning reporter David Wessel looks at the 2011 fiscal year (which ended September 30) to see where all the money was actually spent, and why the budget process has grown wildly out of control.

The 1980s opened with the prime interest rate at an astonishing 21.5 percent, leading to a severe recession with unemployment reaching nearly 11 percent. Depression-like conditions befell the agricultural sector, a bubble burst in the energy sector, a rolling real estate recession swept the country, the entire thrift industry was badly insolvent and the major money center banks were loaded with third world debt.

America is in decline, and the rise of the East suggests a bleak future for the world’s only superpower - so goes the conventional wisdom. But what if the traditional measures of national status are no longer as important as they once were? What if America’s well-being was assessed according to entirely different factors? In The Upside of Down, Charles Kenny argues that America’s so-called decline is only relative to the newfound success of other countries.

In this incisive new book, Michael Mandelbaum argues that the era marked by an expansive American foreign policy is coming to an end. During the seven decades from the U.S. entry into World War II in 1941 to the present, economic constraints rarely limited what the United States did in the world. Now that will change. The country's soaring deficits, fueled by the huge costs of the financial crash and of its entitlement programs - Social Security and Medicare - will compel a more modest American international presence.

Bank Job is a white-knuckle ride into the dark heart of the global financial system. Discover how art hacks life as artist and filmmaker duo Hilary Powell and Dan Edelstyn bring a community together to buy up and abolish crippling debt by printing their own money in a disused bank in East London. Behind the opaque language of loans and the defunct diagrams of debt, they discover a system flawed by design and ripe for hacking.

Nadie esperaba mucho de ellos. Todos - políticos y sociólogos, analistas y politólogos - daban a los mayores españoles por amortizados y semienterrados. Habían sacado la cabeza entre las mareas de indignación que nos visitan de manera periódica, sobre todo desde el 11-M - los famosos yayoflautas - pero nadie esperaba que su función fuera más allá de la de meros comparsas.

In God We Trust delves deeply into current economic and market developments and reflects on how prosperity in the US returned in 2018, as capitalism has again been unleashed. The author says, "What a relief after eight years of economic stagnation and government over-regulation." Oddly, as the US economy has benefited from pro-growth policies, like tax rate cuts and deregulation, there exists a rising tide of sympathy for socialism among leftist politicians and young people.

Banker, Topanwälte, Wissenschaftler – ein perfides Netzwerk von Experten hat sich formiert, um deutsche Steuerzahler zu bestehlen. Die Beute: rund zwölf Milliarden Euro. Die Staatsanwältin Anne Brorhilker nimmt es seit Jahren mit der weltweiten Finanzelite auf, um den Cum-Ex-Skandal aufzuarbeiten. Dabei wird offenbar: Der Staat war keinesfalls ahnungslos. Zahlreiche Finanzbeamte, Steuerfahnder, Amtsträger wussten von diesem Diebeszug, doch niemand setzte ihm ein Ende.

From the best-selling authors of The Right Nation, a visionary argument that our current crisis in government is nothing less than the fourth radical transition in the history of the nation-state. Dysfunctional government: It' s become a cliché, and most of us are resigned to the fact that nothing is ever going to change. As John Micklethwait and Adrian Wooldridge show us, that is a seriously limited view of things. In fact, there have been three great revolutions in government in the history of the modern world.

According to Unintended Consequences, the conventional wisdom masks the real causes of our economic disruption and puts us at risk of a slew of unintended—and potentially dangerous—consequences. 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.

Historian Sean Wilentz presents two key insights that together reveal a clearer, much-needed vision of American political history. First, partisanship has almost always been a feature of American history and in fact has made possible the nation's greatest social reforms. There is little to be gained from a "postpartisan" political world. Second, the recent attention to economic inequality has a long history. From the founders' generation to the present, America's egalitarian tradition has appeared and reappeared like an underground river.

You May Never See Us Again is the only definitive story of David and Frederick Barclay - commonly known as the Barclay brothers. Born poor, these enigmatic twins built one of the biggest fortunes in Britain together from scratch and spent six decades at the epicentre of British business, media and politics. Journalist Jane Martinson unravels the fascinating story of these once inseparable billionaire brothers.

In this expert insider's account of the savings and loan debacle of the 1980s, William Black lays bare the strategies that corrupt CEOs and CFOs - in collusion with those who have regulatory oversight of their industries - use to defraud companies for their personal gain.

Around the world, populist movements are gaining traction among the white working class. Meanwhile, members of the professional elite - journalists, managers, and establishment politicians - are on the outside looking in, left to argue over the reasons. Williams explains that many people have conflated "working class" with "poor" - but the working class is, in fact, the elusive, purportedly disappearing middle class. They often resent the poor and the professionals alike. But they don't resent the truly rich.

This insightful study explores how the economic system Vladimir Putin has developed in Russia works to consolidate control over the country. By appointing his close associates as heads of state enterprises and by giving control of the FSB and the judiciary to his friends from the KGB, he has enriched his business friends from Saint Petersburg with preferential government deals. Thus, Putin has created a super wealthy and loyal plutocracy that owes its existence to authoritarianism.

Who’s really to blame for America’s catastrophic financial meltdown and devastating national recession? Contrary to what the “Occupy Movement” might tell you, it’s not greedy Wall Street executives. No, as one of America’s top financial professionals reveals in this shocking book, the real culprit is economic warfare, with our foreign enemies exploiting our lurking financial weaknesses. In Secret Weapon, Kevin Freeman unveils how all the evidence - including motive, means, and opportunity - points to America’s foreign enemies deliberately pushing our economy over the brink.

“This urgent book offers not only a clear-eyed explanation of the forces that broke our politics, but a thoughtful and, yes, patriotic vision of how we create a government that’s truly by and for the people.”—DAVID DALEY, bestselling author of Ratf**ked and Unrigged In the vein of On...

We see it everywhere: shady zoning regulations in a small town; taxpayer money diverted into political campaigns; deals that enrich the few at the expense of the many; billion-dollar bailouts; and much more. When private interests need a political favor, they know whom to call. When politicians need money, they also know whom to call. The people involved try to keep most of it concealed behind closed doors. This is the system that prevails in Russia after the fall of Communism. But increasingly it is America's system as well.

"I’ve seen my country lately. Frankly, I don’t like what I see. Nevertheless, it’s not too late to restore the great and unique wonder that is the United States. We are the beacon of hope for the world, and we will remain so as long as we stand up for our principles." In keeping with his...

A RESOUNDING CALL TO DEFEND AMERICA’S SOVEREIGNTY AND SAVE OUR NATION FROM GLOBAL ECONOMIC TAKEOVER— FROM THE #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF THE OBAMA NATION AND THE LATE GREAT US Between George H. W. Bush’s “new world order” and the unprecedented governmental growth and...