Publisher: Harriman House, 2010
In a series of disarmingly simple arguments financial market analyst George Cooper challenges the core principles of today's economic orthodoxy and explains how we have created an economy that is inherently unstable and crisis prone. With great skill, he examines the very foundations of today's economic philosophy and adds a compelling analysis of the forces behind economic crisis. His goal is nothing less than preventing the seemingly endless procession of damaging boom-bust cycles, unsustainable economic bubbles, crippling credit crunches, and debilitating inflation. His direct, conscientious, and honest approach will captivate any reader and is an invaluable aid in understanding today's economy.
Publisher: Harriman House, 2014
Economics is a broken science, living in a kind of Alice in Wonderland state believing in multiple, inconsistent, things at the same time. Prior to the financial crisis, mainstream economics argued simultaneously for small government on taxation, regulation and spending, but big government on monetary policy. After the financial crisis, economics is now arguing for more government spending and for less government spending. The premise of this book is that the internal inconsistencies between economic theories - the apparently unresolvable debates between leading economists and the incoherent policies of our governments - are symptomatic of economics being in a crisis. Specifically, in a scientific crisis. The good news is that, thanks to the work of scientist and philosopher Thomas Kuhn, we know what needs to be done to fix a scientific crisis. Moreover, there are two scientists in particular whose ideas could show how to do this for economics: Charles Darwin, the man who discovered evolution, and William Harvey, doctor to King Charles I and the first man to understand blood flow and the workings of the human heart. In Money, Blood and Revolution, bestselling financial writer George Cooper explains how the ideas of Darwin and Harvey could revolutionise economics, making it more scientific and understandable, and might even reveal the true origin of economic growth and inequality. Taking readers on a gripping tour of scientific revolution, social upheaval and the secrets of money and debt, this is an unmissable read for anyone curious to understand how the world really works - and the amazing future of economics.
Publisher: Elliot & Thompson, 2015
We are all swamped in debt. Households, corporations, governments… debt has become so ingrained in our culture, it is an unquestioned fact of life. However, there is another way of bankrolling our economic future, one that could lead to a much fairer society: equity. There is increasing evidence that over reliance on debt finance is damaging both business and society. Debt leaves control and ownership in the hands of too few: it is a direct source of extreme inequality. Equity finance can redress the balance; by broadening direct ownership of assets through equity, we can make everyone better off – not just the few. There is value in equity way beyond what financiers, economists, investment bankers and many corporate CEOs will tell you. It is the value of aligned interests, of trust and fairness, of optimism and patience, of stability and simplicity, of shared endeavour. Only when we unleash this value will economic democracy secure the political democracy that we cherish.
Publisher: Harriman House, 2016
What's the connection between a 16th century Polish astronomer and a 19th century British naturalist? Nicolaus Copernicus and Charles Darwin may have lived three centuries apart but their thinking changed scientific perspectives. Thanks to Copernicus, we know the sun and not the earth is at the centre of the Universe, whilst Darwin's theory of evolution challenged the orthodox view that the species were created the same time as earth and in their current form. So what about the science of economics? Is it also due for a major re-think? Yes, according to George in his new book 'Fixing Economics' where he argues that modern economics needs to embrace a new way of looking at and understanding the world if financial crises are to be prevented in the future.