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Economics

A Capitalism for the People: Recapturing the Lost Genius of American Prosperity

By Luigi Zingales
Basic Books 2014 ISBN: 9780465029471
Contact
communications@manhattan-institute.org
212-599-7000

About the Book

Lobbyists and political insiders make millions from their personal connections to an ever-expanding federal government, while members of a struggling middle class watch their life savings disappear with the burst of the housing bubble. Banks post record profits while costing taxpayers billions in bailouts. Americans on both ends of the political spectrum—from the Tea Party to the Occupy Wall Street movement—have come to the same conclusion: American capitalism is in crisis.

When the Italian-born economist Luigi Zingales first came to the United States to study economics in the 1980s, he embraced the American Dream: the belief that what brings you success is hard work, not luck or who you know. Our unique history and style of capitalism have made even our poor rich, by global standards.

But the economic events of the past decade, combined with the actions of politicians from both major political parties, have undermined capitalism’s reputation. Now, living in America’s heartland and teaching at one of the nation’s most free-market business schools, Zingales warns in A Capitalism for the People that the U.S. economy risks deteriorating into a Berlusconi-style crony-capitalist system—pro-business rather than pro-market, and run by corrupt politicians who are more concerned with lining the pockets of the connected elite than with improving opportunity for the people. If this perverted arrangement persists, can true capitalism ever gain the popular support it needs to survive?

Zingales combines his pro-market perspective and transatlantic vantage point to craft a blueprint for recovery. His real-world recommendations for restoring true competition to our economic system give hope that the U.S. can not only avoid the fate of Italy and Greece but rebound to greatness, transmitting the proven advantages of American-style capitalism to ordinary people at home, and around the world.

About the Author

Luigi Zingales is the Robert C. McCormack Professor of Entrepreneurship and Finance and the David G. Booth Faculty Fellow at the University of Chicago's Graduate School of Business. He serves as the director of the American Finance Association, a faculty research fellow for the National Bureau of Economic Research, a research fellow for the Center for Economic Policy Research and a fellow for the European Governance Institute. He is a contributing editor of City Journal and the coauthor of Saving Capitalism from the Capitalists. He lives in Chicago.

Media

TELEVISION

5/24/12 Nightly Business Report (Natl. Syndicated)
6/5/12 First Business (Natl. Syndicated)
6/7/12 Dylan Ratigan (MSNBC)
6/8/12 Surveillance Midday (Bloomberg TV)
6/22/12 Economic Edge (Bloomberg TV)
7/7/12 BookTV (C-SPAN2)
7/12/12 The Big Picture with Thom Hartmann (RT-TV)
7/17/12 Nightly Business Report

RADIO

6/6/12 The Drive Home (America’s Radio News Network)
6/8/12 Bloomberg Surveillance (Bloomberg Radio)
6/9/12 For Your Ears Only (Radio America)
6/11/12 Bloomberg Surveillance (Bloomberg Radio)
7/3/12 Dennis Prager Show (KRLA/Nationally Syndicated)
7/11/12Bill Bennett's Morning in America (Salem Radio Network)
6/3/12 Extension 720 (WGN-AM/Chicago)
6/4/12 Money Mountain (KPCW-FM/Salt Lake City, UT/NPR)
6/4/12 Wall Street Shuffle (KFXR-AM/Dallas, TX)
6/7/12 Brian Lehrer Show (WNYC/NY/NPR)
6/10/12 California Commerce (KBPK-FM/CA)
6/13/12 Business Hour (KNX-AM/Los Angeles, CA/CBS)
6/14/12 It's the Economy (KGNU-FM/Denver, CO)
6/15/12 Ronn Owens (KGO-AM/San Francisco, CA)
6/18/12 Chicago Tonight (WTTW-TV/Chicago, IL)
7/6/12 Talk of the Town (WATR-AM/Hartford, CT)

NATIONAL PRINT

4/16/12 (pre-pub) Financial Times – Review
4/23/12 Publishers Weekly – Review
6/3/12 New York Times – Book quote/mention
6/7/12 Wall Street Journal – Author Op-Ed

6/9-10/12 Wall Street Journal – Joint Review
6/11/12 Financial Times – Author Op-Ed
6/11/12 Chronicle of Higher Education – Mention in Weekly Book List
6/14/12 New York Times – Author Op-Ed
June 2012 Wall Street Lawyer – Interview
7/12/12 International Herald Tribune – Syndicated
7/11 NYT Campaign Stops blog
7/14/12 Economist – Joint Review
7/14-15/12 Financial Times – Book Mention in Joseph Stiglitz Book Review
Summer 2012 City Journal – Author Op-Ed (online 7/8)
July/August 2012 The University of Chicago Magazine – Feature
September 2012 Journal of Economic Literature – Annotated Book Summary

NEW MEDIA & ONLINE COVERAGE:

11/29/11 (pre-pub) CNN.com, Global Public Square blog – Post by Zingales, book mention in byline
3/30/12 (pre-pub) Marginal Revolution – Book Mention
4/5/12 (pre-pub) Bloomberg View – op-ed by author, book mention in byline
6/1/12 Wonkbook/Washington Post blog – Top 5 op-ed, links to 5/31 Bloomberg View excerpt
6/1/12 National Review Online – links to Bloomberg View Excerpts
6/4/12 National Review Online – Brief Review
6/6/12 The News Hub/WSJ Live – Live, 5 minute interview; syndicated by DailyMotion
6/6/12 The Enterprise Blog (AEI) – Book mention, author quote
6/7/12 Bloomberg View – Review; Syndicated by AgainstCronyCapitalism.org
6/7/12 Dylan Ratigan (@DylanRatigan) Tweet – 53,950 followers
6/8/12 Seeker Blog – Book mention, quotes from WSJ op-ed
6/9/12 Capitol Spectator – Book Summary in “Book Bits” feature
6/11/12 FOXBusiness.com – Author quote/book mention
6/12/12 City Journal Books – Video Interview with Brian Anderson
6/14/12 National Review Online – Feature
6/15/12 The Week – 6/14 NYT op-ed selected as “Best Column” of the week
6/18/12 Chicago PBS (@WTTW11) Tweet – 14,591 followers
6/19/12 Tobin Project E-Newsletter – Excerpt, brief summary
6/19/12 Cafe Hayek – Brief Review
6/22/12 World Socialist Web Site – Feature on NYT op-ed, book mention
7/2/12 EconTalk – 1 hour, podcast interview (taping 6/18); syndicated by Library of Economics and Liberty
7/2/12 Daily Caller – Book mention

7/3/12 Turning Hard Times Into Good Times (Voice America/online radio) – Live 30 minute interview
7/3/12 Town Hall – Link to 7/3 Dennis Prager Interview
7/4/12 J. Taylor Media – Posted 7/3 Turning Hard Times Into Good Times radio interview
7/5/12 Daily Caller – Podcast interview (taping 7/3)
7/5/12 Shelf Awareness – BookTV mention
7/5/12 BookTV Alert e-newsletter – Book mention
7/10/12 Planet Money (NPR) – Taped interview (taping 6/18); syndicated by AgainstCronyCapitalism.org
7/10/12 Huffington Post – Book mention in Bill Scher’s syndicated column; syndicated to Nation of Change and Campaign for America's Future
7/10/12 New York Times blog: Campaign Stops – Mention in “Mitt’s Summer Reading Assignment”
7/11/12 National Review Online – book mention, link to LAT op-ed
7/13/12 Democratic Underground – Link to 7/12 Thom Hartmann interview
7/13/12 National Review Online – Link to City Journal piece, book mention
7/15/12 C-Span2’s BookTV (@BookTV) tweet – 165,461 followers
7/16/12 Bloomberg View – Author op-ed, book mention in byline
7/18/12 RIA Central – Book mention in Summer Reading List
7/20/12 National Review Online – Book mention
7/20/12 Money & Politics with Jim Pethokoukis (Ricochet Podcast) - Interview
7/23/12 Getting In/Businessweek blog – Book mention, author quote
7/24/12 Turning Hard Times into Good Times (Voice America/online radio) – Live 30 minute interview

LOCAL PRINT

5/31/12 Sacramento Bee (Sacramento, CA) – Brief Review in Summer Books Round-up
6/12/12 New York Daily News (NY) – Author op-ed
6/18/12 Deseret News (Salt Lake City, UT) – Author quote/book mention
7/2/12 Mercatus George Mason University (Arlington, VA, online) – Included in Summer Reading List
7/5/12 Los Angeles Times (CA) – Author op-ed, book mention in byline; syndicated 7/6 by Sacramento Bee (CA), McClatchy (DC), Tallahassee.com (FL), The Sun Chronicle (Attleboro, MA)
7/7/12 New York Post – Author op-ed, book mention in byline
7/9/12 Deseret News (Salt Lake City, UT) – Feature (interview 6/4)

EXCERPTS

5/25/12 Chronicle of Higher Education – 1400 Word Adapted Excerpt from Chapter 6
5/29/12 Bloomberg View – 1500 Word Excerpt from Chapter 4
5/30/12 Bloomberg View – 1500 Word Excerpt from Chapter 9
5/31/12 Bloomberg View – 1500 Word Excerpt from Chapter 14
6/7/12 The Globalist – 970 Word Excerpt from Preface
6/8/12 The Globalist – 780 Excerpt from Chapter 3
6/17/12 Salon – 1700 Word Excerpt from Chapter 10

INTERNATIONAL:

3/19/12 (pre-pub) Today’s Zaman (Turkey) – syndicated op-ed by Zingales, book mention in byline
3/21/12 (pre-pub) World Finance (UK) - syndicated op-ed by Zingales, book mention in byline
6/1/12 EuropeanVoice.com (Belgium) – article by Zingales, book mention in byline; syndicated by Prague Post 6/6
6/11/12 Pakistan Today (Pakistan) – Syndicates Bloomberg View piece
6/14/12 Pulso (Chile) – Interview (interview 6/13)
6/21/12 The Independent (UK) – Interview Feature
6/22/12 The Times (UK) – Interview with Patrick Hosking
6/24/12 Corriere della Sera (Italy) – Feature, book mention
6/28/12 Times Higher Education – Feature
7/7/12 Huffduffer (UK) – podcast of 6/21 LSE Lecture