Synopses & Reviews
Inspired by Ayn Rand's characters in Atlas Shrugged and The Fountainhead, penetrating profiles of both the innovators who move our world forward and those who seek to destroy the achievement of othersJohn Galt, the fictional character from Ayn Rand's bestselling novel, Atlas Shrugged, has come to embody the individualist capitalist who acts in his own enlightened self interest, and in doing so lifts the world around him. Some of today's most successful CEOs, journalists, sports figures, actors, and thinkers have led their lives according to Galt's (i.e., Rand's) philosophy.
Now, in I Am John Galt, these inspiring stories are gathered with the keen insight and analysis of well-known market commentator Donald Luskin and business writer Andrew Greta. Filled with exclusive interviews, profiles, and analyses of leading financial, business, and artistic stars who have based their lives, and careers, on the philosophy of the perennially popular Ayn Rand, this book both inspires and enlightens. On the other side are Rand's arch villains?the power-seekers, parasites, and lunatics who would destroy that which the creators and builders make. Who are today's anti-heroes, fighting the creativity of the innovators?
- Contains insightful interviews, profiles, and analyses of the individuals who have lived by a Randian code to achieve greatness for themselves and others
- Offers a probing analysis of those who seek to destroy or undo the achievements of others?from academics, pundits, and government bureaucrats to fraudsters who have wreaked havoc on our world
Engaging and entertaining, I Am John Galt examines how the inspiration that is Galt thrives more than 50 years after publication of Atlas Shrugged. It will spark the interest of Ayn Rand fans everywhere, as well as those seeking a way to succeed in today's turbulent and confusing times.
Synopsis
Who is John Galt?It's been both a cry in the dark and a call to arms for generations of readers of Ayn Rand's great novels—which brilliantly portray a world like ours, a world of both great achievement and great crisis. This book answers that question. I Am John Galt introduces you to the real-life titans who've lived their lives like Rand's fictional heroes and the malefactors who've lived like her fictional villains.
Steve Jobs: he reinvented computers, movies, music, and telephones—just because it was cool
Paul Krugman: he corrupted economics and cheapened public discourse for the sake of partisan politics
John Allison: he built one of America's strongest banks—by having 30,000 employees read Atlas Shrugged
Angelo Mozilo: the predatory lender who used taxpayer money to inflate the subprime housing bubble
Bill Gates: he became the richest man in the world—and his government almost destroyed him
Barney Frank: the populist politician who turned Fannie Mae into a weapon of mass economic destruction
T. J. Rodgers: the bad-boy high-tech CEO—who speaks out against corporate welfare and political correctness
Alan Greenspan: Ayn Rand's lifelong friend who became an economic czar—the ultimate sellout or a double-agent for libertarianism?
Milton Friedman: he made economics into a science—and showed that capitalism and freedom are inseparable
Written by well-known market commentator Donald Luskin and business writer Andrew Greta, I Am John Galt is filled with incisive and entertaining profiles and exclusive interviews. Let yourself be inspired as the characters of Ayn Rand's world come to life. Read and learn—you, too, can say, "I am John Galt."
Synopsis
Praise for I Am John Galt"Love her or hate her, Ayn Rand and I agree that free-market capitalism is the best way to prosperity. Her books show that capitalism and capitalists always triumph, no matter what the odds. Real life can work the same way if you have courage, integrity, and idealism. The real-life capitalist heroes that Don Luskin and Andrew Greta write about in this book prove it."
—Larry Kudlow, CNBC's The Kudlow Report
"Our world today is just like Ayn Rand's novels—it's a battleground of ideas. We are watching play out a war of intrusive government, corrupt businessmen, and sellout economists versus the innovators, entrepreneurs, and just plain working people who make the world grow. Don Luskin and Andrew Greta report from the front lines, showing that there are still great people achieving big things, standing defiantly against the enemies of growth."
—Arthur B. Laffer, founder and Chairman, Laffer Associates
"Donald Luskin and Andrew Greta bring Ayn Rand's novel Atlas Shrugged to life. Hank Rearden lives. Sadly, so too does Wesley Mouch."
—Grover Glenn Norquist, President, Americans for Tax Reform
About the Author
Donald L. Luskin is Chief Investment Officer of TrendMacro, an investment strategy and economics research firm. For over thirty years, he has been a leading figure in investment management and financial markets. He was formerly vice chair of Barclays Global Investors (now BlackRock) and is the founder of Investment Technology Group and MetaMarkets.com. Luskin appears weekly on CNBC's
Kudlow & Company and contributes frequently to the op-ed page of the
Wall Street Journal. He is the author of
Index Options and Futures: The Complete Guide and editor of
Portfolio Insurance: A Guide to Dynamic Hedging, both published by Wiley.
Andrew Greta is an author and business executive with more than fifteen years of experience in financial markets, and currently holds an appointment with the College of Business at the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana. He formerly led corporate and business development at CME Group in Chicago and GE Capital in Stamford, Connecticut. Greta is a former contributing editor for TheStreet.com. His articles on finance and investing have appeared in numerous national publications including SFO magazine, DSNews.com, ABCNews.com, Online Investor, and Individual Investor.
Table of Contents
Introduction 1
Chapter 1 The Individualist 17
Steve Jobs as Howard Roark, the man who reinvented four whole industries just because it was so cool
By Andrew Greta
Chapter 2 The Mad Collectivist 45
Paul Krugman as Ellsworth Toohey, the man who preaches socialism from the pages of America’s newspaper of record
By Donald L. Luskin
Chapter 3 The Leader 71
John Allison as John Galt, the man who walked away after building America's strongest bank
By Donald L. Luskin
Chapter 4 The Parasite 97
Angelo Mozilo as James Taggart, the businessman who corrupted government and nearly wrecked the U.S. economy
By Andrew Greta
Chapter 5 The Persecuted Titan 131
Bill Gates as Henry Rearden, the businessman who created revolutionary technologies and was criminalized for his success
By Andrew Greta
Chapter 6 The Central Planner 163
Barney Frank as Wesley Mouch, the politician who meddled in the economy and almost destroyed it
By Andrew Greta
Chapter 7 The Capitalist Champion 191
T. J. Rodgers as Francisco d'Anconia, the modern Renaissance man and agent provocateur for capitalism
By Andrew Greta
Chapter 8 The Sellout 219
Alan Greenspan as Robert Stadler, the libertarian who became an economic czar
By Donald L. Luskin
Chapter 9 The Economist of Liberty 239
Milton Friedman as Hugh Akston, the academic who showed the world the connection between capitalism and freedom
By Andrew Greta & Donald L. Luskin
Afterword 261
Notes 267
Acknowledgments 293
About the Authors 295
Index 297