Synopses & Reviews
Bleakonomics is a short and humorous guide to the three great crises plaguing today's world: environmental degradation, social conflict in the age of austerity, and financial instability.
Written for anyone who is wondering how we've come to this point, Rob Larson holds mainstream economic theory up against the grim reality of a planet in meltdown. He looks at scientists' conclusions about climate change, the business world's opinions about its own power, and reveals the fingerprints of finance on American elections.
With a unique and engaging approach to each crucial subject, students, academics, and activists will find a lot to appreciate in this quiet call-to-arms for a saner and more stable world.
Review
"I have been reading Rob Larson's columns for some time, with great profit and appreciation. His work is not only solidly grounded but also lucid and accessible, a most valuable contribution to public understanding and vitally needed action." - Noam Chomsky
"Larson adds a critical component to the policy debate about financial reform by explaining why the systemically dangerous institutions (SDIs) - the "too big to fail" banks - imperil our democracy as well as our economy. They are ticking time bombs certain to cause great damage unless we follow Larson's advice." - William Black, Associate Professor of Economics and Law, University of Missouri-Kansas City, author of The Best Way to Rob a Bank is to Own One
"Whether illuminating the rapacious class war being waged by America's CEOs, the remarkably mindless degradation of the world's oceans, or the wishful thinking about the increasingly evident consequences of global warming, Rob Larson consistently brings powerful insights and a biting wit. Larson has a unique skill for translating complex economic and scientific analysis with both clarity and force. " - Roger Bybee, labor journalist
"Robert Larson's range of topics and accessible writing make this book an invaluable contribution to the critical task of connecting environmental degradation and overwhelming corporate power. A most readable and timely response to a central challenge of our times." - Mary Zepernick, a founder of the Massachusetts-based POCLAD, the Program on Corporations, Law, and Democracy
"Larson has the incredible ability to break down complicated economic data and facts and present what is really happening in easy and simple language, in a way that any busy working person can use in developing their own conclusions. Fact-driven, concise, interesting, and even funny - that's unusual for a book about economics, policies, and working people. " - Tom Szymanski, Organizer of IBEW Local 275
Review
"I have been reading Rob Larson's columns for some time, with great profit and appreciation. His work is not only solidly grounded but also lucid and accessible, a most valuable contribution to public understanding and vitally needed action." - Noam Chomsky
"Larson adds a critical component to the policy debate about financial reform by explaining why the systemically dangerous institutions (SDIs) - the "too big to fail" banks - imperil our democracy as well as our economy. They are ticking time bombs certain to cause great damage unless we follow Larson's advice." - William Black, Associate Professor of Economics and Law, University of Missouri-Kansas City, author of The Best Way to Rob a Bank is to Own One
"Whether illuminating the rapacious class war being waged by America's CEOs, the remarkably mindless degradation of the world's oceans, or the wishful thinking about the increasingly evident consequences of global warming, Rob Larson consistently brings powerful insights and a biting wit. Larson has a unique skill for translating complex economic and scientific analysis with both clarity and force. " - Roger Bybee, labor journalist
"Robert Larson's range of topics and accessible writing make this book an invaluable contribution to the critical task of connecting environmental degradation and overwhelming corporate power. A most readable and timely response to a central challenge of our times." - Mary Zepernick, a founder of the Massachusetts-based POCLAD, the Program on Corporations, Law, and Democracy
"Larson has the incredible ability to break down complicated economic data and facts and present what is really happening in easy and simple language, in a way that any busy working person can use in developing their own conclusions. Fact-driven, concise, interesting, and even funny - that's unusual for a book about economics, policies, and working people. " - Tom Szymanski, Organizer of IBEW Local 275
Review
"I have been reading Rob Larson's columns for some time, with great profit and appreciation. His work is not only solidly grounded but also lucid and accessible, a most valuable contribution to public understanding and vitally needed action." - Noam Chomsky
"Larson adds a critical component to the policy debate about financial reform by explaining why the systemically dangerous institutions (SDIs) - the "too big to fail" banks - imperil our democracy as well as our economy. They are ticking time bombs certain to cause great damage unless we follow Larson's advice." - William Black, Associate Professor of Economics and Law, University of Missouri-Kansas City, author of The Best Way to Rob a Bank is to Own One
"Whether illuminating the rapacious class war being waged by America's CEOs, the remarkably mindless degradation of the world's oceans, or the wishful thinking about the increasingly evident consequences of global warming, Rob Larson consistently brings powerful insights and a biting wit. Larson has a unique skill for translating complex economic and scientific analysis with both clarity and force. " - Roger Bybee, labor journalist
"Robert Larson's range of topics and accessible writing make this book an invaluable contribution to the critical task of connecting environmental degradation and overwhelming corporate power. A most readable and timely response to a central challenge of our times." - Mary Zepernick, a founder of the Massachusetts-based POCLAD, the Program on Corporations, Law, and Democracy
"Larson has the incredible ability to break down complicated economic data and facts and present what is really happening in easy and simple language, in a way that any busy working person can use in developing their own conclusions. Fact-driven, concise, interesting, and even funny - that's unusual for a book about economics, policies, and working people. " - Tom Szymanski, Organizer of IBEW Local 275
Synopsis
This is a darkly humorous guide to the three great crises plaguing today's world: environmental degradation, social conflict in the age of austerity and financial instability. Rob Larson holds mainstream economic theory up against the grim reality of a planet in meltdown. He looks at scientists' conclusions about climate change, the business world's opinions about its own power, and reveals the fingerprints of finance on American elections. Through ascerbic analysis, Bleakonomics unveils a world of extreme inequality, confusion and insanity.
Synopsis
Bleakonomics is a short and darkly humorous guide to the three great crises plaguing today's world: environmental degradation, social conflict in the age of austerity and financial instability.
Written for anyone who is wondering how weve come to this point, Rob Larson holds mainstream economic theory up against the grim reality of a planet in meltdown. He looks at scientists conclusions about climate change, the business worlds opinions about its own power, and reveals the fingerprints of finance on American elections.
With a unique and engaging approach to each crucial subject, students, academics and activists will find a lot to appreciate in this quiet call-to-arms for a saner and more stable world.
Synopsis
A study of workers struggles against management regimes in Britain's car industry from the Second World War to the late 1980s.
About the Author
Rob Larson teaches Economics at Tacoma Community College in Washington State, USA. He is active with Occupy Tacoma and Jobs with Justice, and writes regularly for Dollars & Sense and Z Magazine.
Table of Contents
Preface: The Plutonomy Papers
PART I: External Damnation The markets unintended impact on the environment
Introduction: “Externalities” in theory
1. Come Hell and High Water
2. Hug Them While They Last
3. Hot Water Capitalism's "best economic case"
4. The Brown Peril Atmospheric
5. Cause and Side-Effect
6. As Not Seen On TV
PART II: Will Work For Peanuts The job market and war on labor
Introduction: The labor market in theory
7. Classroots
8. Hitting the Class Ceiling
9. Fight and Flight
10. MidEast Meets MidWest
11. Ebony & Irony
12. The Subprime Court
13. Keeping Down With the Joneses
PART III: The Invisible Hand Gives the Finger The crisis-prone finance market
Introduction: Credit markets in theory
14. Pop Goes the Economy
15. Not Too Big Enough
16. Bonanzas As Usual
17. Fed Up
18. Starved For Attention
Conclusion: Invisible Sleight-of-Hand Economics as a failed science
Notes
Index