Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)I wanted to like this book. And I did in many ways. But not enough to give it a higher rating. I appreciated the detailed discussion of "Modern Finance". I appreciated the discussions of the various transgressions of financial institutions without blaming "the free market". The discussion of managerial capitalism was fascinating. Nuggets such as the impact of the estate tax on corporate structure were also illuminating. There is also an interesting and fresh discussion on how Greenspan's policies evolving over his term.
I did find some chapters were so dense with mathematical analysis that I mostly skimmed them. (To the authors' credit, they acknowledge such at the beginning of chapter 15 by suggesting that it could be optional for some readers.)
The broad recommendations of stricter monetary controls, reduction in the scope of deposit insurance, and restrictions on future bailouts of financial institutions seemed quite sound. The overall tone that our financial systems would be better served with less government actions and less regulation was also compelling to me (acknowledging my own confirmation bias.)
I did find chapter 16 to be a little muddy. The authors suggest various reforms of corporate governance while seemingly ignoring how these reforms might be implemented without additional government interventions. To my eyes, the authors fell into the trap that all we need is better regulations of financial institutions and corporations without acknowledging the incentives that governments and legislatures have when crafting such regulations.
For US readers, keep in mind that the book is mostly written from a UK perspective. Not completely, for sure, but enough that I was forced to pause regularly to make sure I understood what was being presented.
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