Protecting Capitalism Case By Case

“Eliot Spitzer, a dedicated advocate for the public interest, writes with wisdom born of his experience in fighting for what is right and good for the people of New York State and the U.S. Protecting Capitalism Case by Case illuminates some of the greatest threats to sustainable capitalism and prescribes solutions to help to mark a clear-headed path forward.” —Al Gore

Leading independent eBook publisher RosettaBooks has released Eliot Spitzer’s Protecting Capitalism Case By Case (RosettaBooks; July 15, 2013; eBook $9.99, POD Trade Paperback $17.95), a compelling examination of the enforcement necessary to protect the principles that sustain our economic markets and fuel their vigor. Refuting as dangerous the poor caricature of capitalism advocated today by those who accrue wealth for themselves while breaching fundamental codes of conduct and creating nearly unlimited long-term costs to society, Spitzer sets forth an insightful defense of capitalism. All of the author proceeds will be contributed to City University of New York and Better Markets.

Well known as a hard-charging agent of change, Eliot Spitzer was called the “Sheriff of Wall Street” as New York State Attorney General, when he set a new standard for law enforcement in financial fraud, environmental protection, and civil rights. The cases he brought—both criminal and civil—targeted pervasive misconduct and structural flaws in the economy that were metastasizing. Today, after the financial crisis has exposed the faults that were brewing and the ever-expanding gap between the 1% and the 99%, it is clear that Spitzer was prescient.

What happens when nobody enforces the rules, when government simply “gets out of the way?” Some suggest the energy and spirit of the free market are liberated. In fact, in the less-than-ideal world we live in, the central and essential values and principles of democratic capitalism are eviscerated by fraud and greed.

Spitzer persuasively argues that a fundamental misunderstanding of the “market” underlay the ideology that dominated for nearly 30 years and that the crisis of 2008 was almost predictable as a result. Referencing the groundbreaking cases from multiple sectors – public, private, and not for profit – he brought while a lawyer and later, Attorney General, he calls for a more robust enforcement regime, one that will protect capitalism. He asserts the legitimate and necessary role of government to maintain the integrity, competitive environment, and respect for fiduciary duties without which the economy will once again descend into crisis.

Weighing the tension between capitalism and the need for vigilant oversight of excesses, to protect those who cannot protect themselves, Spitzer includes absorbing insider insights and astute commentary on the practices that can so easily drift into damaging economic circumstances. Included in his framework for sustainable capitalism and prescriptions to repair and avoid economic deterioration are:

• Competition as Planned, Not Practiced – Competition is key, yet companies strive to eliminate it, from the Gambino crime family structuring a cartel to control trucking; to the world’s largest insurance broker, Marsh Mac, rigging bids; to leading pharmaceutical Bristol-Myers Squibb manipulating the patent system to keep a generic drug from competing with the brand-name equivalent; to politicians gerrymandering their districts, and more.
• Supply-and-Demand Market Failure – Why supply-demand curves don’t always give us the right price and quantity; how the mortgage lending industry succeeded, until caught, in giving brokers incentives to push up loan rates, targeting African-American and Latino neighborhoods for the very worst credit products on the market.
• Markets Can’t Regulate Themselves – Self-regulation is an oxymoron.
• Faltering Respect for Fiduciary Duty – An example: the chasm between the flurry of marketing pieces inviting the middle class “into” the capital markets, and the dearth of rules to protect and inform the middle class about the risks they are absorbing.
• What Happened to Corporate Governance – Why is management seemingly unfettered from shareholder and community interests; between 1978 and 2011, worker average compensation rose 5.7%, while CEO compensation rose 726%; plus the interlocking relations that limit change.
• Hard-to-Sanction Corporations – Corporations revel in the rights of personhood but have few of the responsibilities and potential exposure to prosecution.
• Did We Waste the Financial Crisis? – We resuscitated the economy but failed to reform the industry primarily responsible for the crisis, and neglected to impose sanctions where required; added to “too big to manage,” do we have now also “too big to prosecute”?
• Greed is Not a Social Contract – How do we divide income and what incentives do we create through our tax code and governmental expenditures? Who is it we most protect, encourage, support, or tax? Though productivity continued to rise, making U.S. workers the most productive in the world, real wages have barely budged.
• Rules for Life – Loyalty, fiduciary duty, and incentives matter; hubris is terminal; politics should be a cause, not a profession; and more.

An intriguing look at the U.S. practice of capitalism, both the forces that propel it and those that shackle its strength, Protecting Capitalism Case By Case is a call to action and a new vision for financial stability, integrity, and prosperity. Combining discerning economic and political assessments with judicious solutions to the issues that interrupt a vibrant marketplace, Eliot Spitzer has written a book for our times.

Protecting Capitalism Case By Case is being published simultaneously in eBook and print-on-demand formats, and as an Audible audio book.

ABOUT ELIOT SPITZER

Eliot Spitzer is a political commentator who prosecuted abuses among major Wall Street firms and other industries, both as a young lawyer and as New York State Attorney General. Former New York State Governor, elected by nearly 70% of the vote, Spitzer has for the past several years been at the forefront of the American political scene sparking lively debates on compelling topics ranging from global business to party politics. He is a regular television panelist, pundit, in-demand speaker, and former host of CNN’s “In the Arena” and Current TV’s “Viewpoint.” He taught a weekly seminar, “Law and Public Policy” at City College in New York from fall 2009 to spring 2012. Spitzer graduated from Princeton University and Harvard Law School, where he was an editor of the Harvard Law Review.

About RosettaBooks: RosettaBooks is the leading independent eBook publisher, responsible for brand line publishing in collaboration with AARP, Harvard Health Publications, and the Mayo Clinic, as well as such timeless classics as Brave New World, Slaughterhouse-Five, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, the complete works of Winston Churchill, and the first-time digital release in the U.S. of 35 titles from renowned science fiction author Sir Arthur C. Clarke. Publisher of ten Kindle Singles, including Ray Bradbury’s The Playground, RosettaBooks has launched nine of them to bestseller status. For more information, please visit RosettaBooks.com and follow the e-publisher on Facebook.