I Am John Galt (eBook)

Donald L. Luskin (San Francisco, CA) is a high profile commentator appearing weekly on CNBC's "Kudlow Report" and author of "Ahead of the Curve" investment column for SmartMoney.com, the site's most popular weekly column. Luskin writes frequently for the editorial page of the Wall Street Journal, blogs at "The Conspiracy to Keep You Poor and Stupid," and his commentaries and analysis appear in the National Review, Washington Post, and Reason magazine. He is chief investment officer at Trend Macrolytics LLC, an economic and investment strategy consulting firm serving the largest institutional investors. For over 25 years he has been a leading figure in investment management and financial markets, with senior executive positions at Wells Fargo, Barclays, and Investment Technology Group. Andrew Greta (Chicago, IL) is a freelance author and business executive with more than 15 years of experience in the financial markets. Most recently, Greta led corporate & business development efforts at CME Group in Chicago - the world's largest and most diverse financial exchange. Previously, Greta served as Director, Global Business Development for General Electric (GE), where he led global mergers and acquisitions, divestitures and strategic partnership deals for one of GE's financial services divisions. Andrew is a former Contributing Editor for TheStreet.com. His articles on finance and investing topics have appeared in numerous national publications including Stocks, Futures & Options (SFO) Magazine, DS News, ABCNews.com, Online Investor, and Individual Investor Magazine. He blogs with co-author Donald Luskin at iamjohngalt.com. Greta began his career as a Series 7 Financial Advisor with Prudential Securities and holds an MBA from the Krannert Graduate School of Management at Purdue University. He currently lives in Chicago with his wife, Emily.

Introduction 1

Chapter 1 The Individualist 17

Steve Jobs as Howard Roark, the man who reinvented four whole
industries just because it was so cool

By Andrew Greta

Chapter 2 The Mad Collectivist 45

Paul Krugman as Ellsworth Toohey, the man who preaches socialism
from the pages of America's newspaper of record

By Donald L. Luskin

Chapter 3 The Leader 71

John Allison as John Galt, the man who walked away after building
America's strongest bank

By Donald L. Luskin

Chapter 4 The Parasite 97

Angelo Mozilo as James Taggart, the businessman who corrupted
government and nearly wrecked the U.S. economy

By Andrew Greta

Chapter 5 The Persecuted Titan 131

Bill Gates as Henry Rearden, the businessman who created
revolutionary technologies and was criminalized for his
success

By Andrew Greta

Chapter 6 The Central Planner 163

Barney Frank as Wesley Mouch, the politician who meddled in the
economy and almost destroyed it

By Andrew Greta

Chapter 7 The Capitalist Champion 191

T. J. Rodgers as Francisco d'Anconia, the modern Renaissance man
and agent provocateur for capitalism

By Andrew Greta

Chapter 8 The Sellout 219

Alan Greenspan as Robert Stadler, the libertarian who became an
economic czar

By Donald L. Luskin

Chapter 9 The Economist of Liberty 239

Milton Friedman as Hugh Akston, the academic who showed the world
the connection between capitalism and freedom

By Andrew Greta & Donald L. Luskin

Afterword 261

Notes 267

Acknowledgments 293

About the Authors 295

Index 297