More than Greed

Elements of rigorous analysis do crop up in Age of Greed, and when they do they are enlightening. But if the book fails to cohere and to rise to the promise of its title, it may in part be due to a profound reluctance to break with the New Deal past. No one could object to more vigilant regulation of the financial system, not to mention the rest of the economy, here and abroad. But a globalized version of the regulatory, Keynesian welfare state seems to circumscribe the far horizon of this perspective; one might call it the reinstatement of civilized capitalism. It is strange that progressives should become a party of the past, preoccupied with the restoration of American capitalism’s golden age. It is not an inspiring vision for those seeking a way out of this killing impasse. Indeed, the pathetic state of resistance to a malignant capitalism has suggested as much. Occupy Wall Street may change all that; at least it has pointed its blunt finger at what Madrick and others have avoided: the system. Meanwhile, the price of auto-cannibalism, already steep, will grow ever more draconian.