The Great American Deception: What Politicians Won′t Tell You About Our Economy and Your Future - Hardcover

Batra, Ravi

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0471165565 ISBN 13: 9780471165569

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons, 1996

Synopsis

"[Dr. Batra] is one of the most gifted and serious economists around today. His views on several national and global socioeconomic issues and problems are in demand around the world." World Business Review

One of our most controversial economic prognosticators offers a critical expose of the "revolutionary" economic ideas on both sides of the political aisle

In 1987, Ravi Batra held a mirror up to the American economy and predicted financial doom in The Great Depression of 1990. The book spurred national debate and sold one and half million copies, spending a full year on The New York Times Bestseller List. Surviving the Great Depression of 1990 came a year later and met with similar success. Now, in Quiet Crisis in America, Batra is at his most controversial best once again.

In a book sure to spark media scrutiny, Batra takes on the latest economic ideas of Bill Clinton, Newt Gingrich, Bob Dole, Dick Armey, Jack Kemp, and others. Caught up in the fever of election year rhetoric, this group offers the American public a wide range of ideas meant to address the economic concerns of the day. Batra tackles their ideas one by one, arguing that they claim no historical backing, are often based on flimsy logic, and not only won′t solve the problem but might make it worse.

From the failed notion of trickle down economics to the dangerous consequences of our shift from a manufacturing to a service economy, Batra unravels the mysteries and failed logic behind today′s economic ideas and probes the reason why a majority of Americans still feel the pinch of making ends meet even in light of the most promising economic numbers in decades. He then makes a strong case for a plan that stimulates the economy by restricting imports and increasing tariffs.

• Charts the drastic effects of NAFTA on wage decline and job loss
• Shows how imposing higher taxes on the wealthy will stimulate not stifle the economy
• Reveals why the flat tax will not work

RAVI BATRA (Dallas, Texas) is a professor of international economics at Southern Methodist University. Batra has built a reputation for plain speaking analysis of our economy and its successes and failures.

About this title

About the Author

RAVI BATRA, Ph.D., is Professor of International Economics at Southern Methodist University. He is the author of two national bestsellers, The Great Depression of 1990 and Surviving the Great Depression of 1990, as well as The Myth of Free Trade.

From the Back Cover

What they say about BestsellinG Author Dr. Ravi Batra

"Ravi Batra has made an outstanding reputation in the United States as an international economic theorist in the best Western tradition." Leonard Silk, economics columnist The New York Times

"[Dr. Batra] is one of the most gifted and serious economists around today. His views on several national and global, socioeconomic issues and problems are in demand around the world." World Business Review

"Batra [is] a scholar who has earned a considerable reputation as an expert on trade." Albert Crenshaw The Washington Post

Why have wages and real family incomes stagnated? Why are corporations constantly downsizing? Why is the world′s largest economy addicted to huge budget and trade deficits? Why have we borrowed hundreds of billions of dollars from other countries and become a debtor nation? Why does the burden of payroll taxes rise every year? Why does wealth remain concentrated in the hands of a small minority, regardless of which political party is in power?

American families are feeling the devastating effects of an ongoing economic crisis. At its roots lie some disturbing questions about the state of our economy and the state of our leading politicians. How do we escape from the quiet depression and deception afflicting America today? It′s all part of: The Great American Deception

Dr. Ravi Batra′s critical exposé of the obsolete economic ideas on both sides of the political aisle

"Our economy. . . Needs a fresh diagnosis and prescription. Old cures are not working and will not work." from the Introduction

When Ravi Batra held a mirror up to the American economy in his bestselling The Great Depression of 1990, his prediction of financial doom spurred national debate. Now The Great American Deception finds Batra once again at his controversial best: "We need to overhaul the system, not just tinker with it and indulge in wishful thinking that the economy will heal itself."

Just what has happened to America′s economy? Rising taxes, falling wages, and corporate downsizing are the hallmarks of a very real economic crisis that Batra believes is "in some ways worse than the calamity of the 1930s." At the end of that decade, real wages had jumped 17 percent. From 1990–1995, however, despite low unemployment figures, real family income has dropped in five out of six years by a total of 6 percent. At the same time, stock markets are booming in North America, and what once was a leading indicator of prosperity now signals the opposite. If corporations are thriving, why are thousands of skilled workers being fired? Why is the country that gave birth to the legend of the American Dream careening toward a future nightmare?

At the root of the problem Batra sees a level of quiet political deception that finds its roots in "the botched up tax policy of incumbent politicians and their precursors." The ′90s have seen crowds of incumbents from a popular president to the congressional Democrats who′d controlled the House for forty years dismissed by voters seeking answers and action.

Today, caught up in the fever of election–year rhetoric, leading politicians from Bill Clinton and Bob Dole to Newt Gingrich, Dick Armey, Jack Kemp and others, offer Americans a range of ideas meant to address the economic concerns of the day. In The Great American Deception, Ravi Batra tackles their ideas one by one, arguing that they are often based on flimsy logic, and not only won′t solve our economic problem, but might make it worse. From the failed notion of trickle down economics to the dangerous consequences of our shift from a manufacturing to a service economy, Batra unravels the mysteries and deception behind today′s economic policies. He charts the drastic effects of NAFTA on wage decline and job loss. He shows how imposing higher taxes on the wealthy will stimulate not stifle the economy. And he reveals why the flat tax will not work. Ultimately, what Batra proposes is a comprehensive plan that stimulates the economy by restoring the tax and trade levels of the 1960s which saw the fastest growth in our living standard. He favors a rise in the income tax on wealthy individuals and corporations, and a drastic cut in social security tax to be financed partly through higher tariffs.

Edition details

• Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
• Publication date: 1996
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0471165565
• ISBN 13: 9780471165569
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 278