Americans have fallen for the ticker tape. We watch our
portfolios, happily or nervously. We know there were a few bad
apples at Enron and World Com, but we also know:
* The advent of mutual funds, low-cost brokerages, and the Internet
has meant that the stock market is now more transparent, honest,
and accessible to the small investor than ever before;
* 401ks give the individual responsibility and control over their
retirement savings, and that makes us more responsible
citizens;
* Federal deficits are bad for the economy, especially, somehow,
when they''re linked to social spending; and
* Controlling inflation is the most important task of our economic
policy.
But as economist Ellen Frank shows us, what we know is wrong. Over
the past twenty years, Americans have been fed a mash of confusing
financial and economic information. This information has distorted
popular understanding of how the economy really operates and
camouflaged the transformation of economic policy from a tool for
improving the living standards of all to a tool for securing the
perquisites of those with financial wealth.--From the Hardcover
edition.
關於作者:
Ellen Frank, senior economic analyst for the Poverty Institute
at Rhode Island College, writes and lectures widely on U.S. and
international economic policy. She lives in Boston,
Massachusetts.--From the Hardcover edition.