Rate this book

The Fine Print: How Big Companies Use "Plain English" To Rob You Blind (2012)

by David Cay Johnston(Favorite Author)

4.08 of 5 Votes: 4

ISBN

1591843588 (ISBN13: 9781591843580)

languge

English

genre

Nonfiction

publisher

Portfolio Hardcover

review 1: This book is more than just how "big" companies are you, it's a virtual panoply of the con job that's happening all around you, most of which is hidden or obscured from your awareness.I'm pro-business. I'm pro-free-market. I'm pro "capitalist" and anti-statist. Yet, I'm giving the book 4 stars because what's in this book is not mutually exclusive with freedom. Actually, the book outlines many ways in which corporatism is usurping liberty from you, economic and otherwise.The author is certainly leftist, but his viewpoints are of little relevance to the book. What's relevant is gaining the knowledge and understanding of what's taking place before your eyes, and then doing something about it (adjusting your behavior, becoming active in reform, etc).A few of the author's sugge... morestions at the end were not thought out or if they were are completely inept at solving the major issues outlined in the book. I'll give one small example. Of all the egregious cons put onto the US public by the banking industry, one of the recommendations the author posits is for the reserve rate to be increased to 10%. This solution is sadly laughable, and ignores the ramifications of the reserve system itself (which the author would certainly detest if he understood them). This isn't to say that the author doesn't have good ideas; he does. Along the same lines in the banking industry, he advocates for secondary and tertiary market prohibition for loans. It's not a bad idea, even if it wasn't all thought out, because the idea can serve as a starting point to solving the issues.The book is certainly worth your time assuming you're interested in: corporatism, business, government, or consumer rights.
review 2: I think the subtitle is inaccurate and misleading. The Fine Print is not about the fine print as we commonly think of it, it's about the partnership between government and big business to put more and more of the tax burden on the average tax payer, gouge the customer, put less and less of the burden on business, reward big business with greater profits which pays off in bigger campaign donations, and provide ever fewer and fewer government services for the taxpayer. It's a book all taxpayers should read and then present a copy to their Congressional people with the instructions "there will be a pop quiz in a week." less

Download links for: The Fine Print: How Big Companies Use "Plain English" to Rob You Blind

Advertising