Raymond W. Baker

Capitalism's Achilles Heel

Dirty Money and How to Renew the Free-Market System

• Gebundenes Buch

Produktbeschreibung

PRAISE FOR CAPITALISM'S ACHILLES HEEL

"The corrosive effects of bribery, money laundering, tax evasion, and fraudulent transfer pricing need to be analyzed and explained. Raymond Baker, a pioneer in this research, shows how illicit funds move through world financial systems and lead to increased corruption, poor distribution of resources, and damage to the rule of law. I hope his passion for the subject will inspire others to delve into the legal, economic, and social consequences of dirty money and what must be done to stop it."
-Senator Carl Levin, (D-Michigan), Ranking Member, Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations

"In today's world, expanded trade relationships and rapid advances in communication technology foster opportunities for greater political freedom, economic growth, and higher living standards around the world. These developments also create new vulnerabilities for the international financial system. This book takes a look at these challenges head on and makes an important contribution to the public debate."
-Senator Charles Grassley, (R-Iowa), Chairman, Senate Finance Committee

"This groundbreaking book will open your eyes to two things: how illegal money is shifted out of poor countries into rich countries and how these illegal flows add to poverty, misery, and inequality in poor countries themselves. Can this be stopped when those in power think they are benefiting? Public pressure, as was focused on slavery two centuries ago, is the first step toward change."
-Branko Milanovic, Economist, World Bank and author of Worlds Apart

"Raymond Baker's comprehensive book on illicit money is required reading for anyone involved in the global economy. His painstaking, fact-based analysis depicts an insidious phenomenon that threatens general welfare and requires urgent corrective action."
-George Vojta, Chairman, Caux Round Table, former vice chairman, Bankers Trust

"A superlative and enlighteningoverview of the world of corrupt money in its many forms, what it is doing to human civilization, why it must be stopped, and how this can be accomplished. Raymond Baker critiques global capitalism as it is functioning today from neither a liberal nor conservative perspective but from the standpoint of a believer in and supporter of free markets and free trade. A brilliant tour de force!"
-Brent Blackwelder, President, Friends of the Earth

Produktdetails

• Verlag: Wiley & Sons
• Artikelnr. des Verlages: 14664488000
• 1. Auflage
• Seitenzahl: 448
• Erscheinungstermin: 1. Juli 2005
• Englisch
• Abmessung: 240mm x 161mm x 29mm
• Gewicht: 660g
• ISBN-13: 9780471644880
• ISBN-10: 0471644889
• Artikelnr.: 14843887

Autorenporträt

Raymond W. Baker, after a long career in international business, is a guest scholar at The Brookings Institution and a Senior Fellow at the Center for International Policy, both located in Washington, D.C. He appears often on television and radio in the United States and overseas and often testifies before House and Senate committees. Baker has an MBA from Harvard, lived in Africa for many years, and has done business across much of the developing world.

Inhaltsangabe

Prologue. Chapter 1: Global Capitalism: Savior or Predator? PART I:
Illegality: We Like the Money. Chapter 2: Playing the Game. The Dirty-Money
User Manual. You're in Business. Chapter 3: Dirty Money at Work. The
Corruption Industry. The Criminal Component: Drugs, Thugs, and Terrorists.
Global Commerce and Tax Evasion: Coin of the Realm. Chapter 4: Magnitudes
and Misunderstandings. How Much Money? A Failure Rate of 99.9 Percent.
Well-Intentioned Efforts. The Patriot Act. Dirty Money Is on the Rise.
Chasing Terrorists' Money. Ill-Intentioned Loopholes. Haven and Secrecy
Structure. Falsified Pricing Structure. We Like the Money. Challenge. PART
II: Inequality: The Gap Matters. Chapter 5: The Global Divide. The Quintile
Canyon. Measure for Measure. It's an Uncertain World. The Monkey Wrench.
Chapter 6: "I Don't Understand" and "Don't Tell Anyone". Myths. "Don't Tell
Anyone". Corruption--At Long Last! Filling Western Coffers: Mum's the Word.
Debtor's Prison. What If? Intellectual Gap or Character Gap? Chapter 7:
It's the 70 to 90 Percent that Matters. It Can't Last. Convergence? The Gap
Matters. Challenge. PART III: Disutility: Bentham KOs Smith. Chapter 8: The
Anguish of Adam Smith. Theory of Moral Sentiments. Wealth of Nations.
Invisible Hand. Das Adam Smith Problem. The Tears of Adam Smith. Chapter 9:
The Joys of Jeremy Bentham. Jurisprudence. Utilitarianism. Related
Interests. John Stuart Mill. Problems. Chapter 10: Philosophy Becomes
Culture. The Great Infusion. Twentieth-Century Utility. Twentieth-Century
Utilitarianism. Inoperable Doctrine, Deadly Practice. Disutility.
Challenge. PART IV: Run It Right: Trust the System. Chapter 11:
Capitalism's Achilles Heel. Chapter 12: Spreading Prosperity.
Delegitimizing Dirty Money. Tougher on Corruption. Reining in the Support
Structure. Mispricing and Transfer Pricing. Capitalism's Contribution to
Slashing Inequality. ". . . When You Pay Me What You Owe Me". Reconstitute
the World Bank. Justice First. Chapter 13: Renewing Capitalism.
Acknowledgments. Notes. Index.

Rezensionen

"...excellent book...well-researched..." (Financial Times, 10th August 2005)

"...Challenging the view that financial scandal and tax dodging are isolated cases in an otherwise robust system, Capitalism's Achilles Heel shows how these 'negative externalities', as economists call them, have generated a spirit of lawlessness that threatens the integrity of the market system and the finance industry as a whole..." (The London Review of Books, 6th October 2005)

"...Baker is an ethical capitalist - at least - more so than most - his concern is the incredible rapacity and corruption of modern capitalism - a must-read for those on the left...." (The Morning Star, 28th September 2005)

"...excellent book...well-researched..." (Financial Times, 10th August 2005)