Jimmy Stewart Is Dead (eBook)

LAURENCE J. KOTLIKOFF is a William Fairfield Warren Professor of Economics at Boston University, Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Research Associate of the National Bureau of Economic Research, Fellow of the Econometric Society, and former Senior Economist, President's Council of Economic Advisers. Coauthor of The Coming Generational Storm and Spend 'Til the End and author of The Healthcare Fix, and Bloomberg columnist, Kotlikoff publishes extensively in the nation's leading newspapers, magazines, and financial websites on financial reform, taxes, saving, growth, deficits, Social Security, healthcare, pensions, and personal finance.

Foreword by Jeffrey Sachs.

Preface.

Acknowledgments.

Chapter 1. It's a Horrible Mess.

Chapter 2. The Big Con: Financial Malfeasance, American
Style.

Chapter 3. Uncle Sam's Dangerous Medicine.

Chapter 4. "This Sucker Could Go Down".

Chapter 5. Limited Purpose Banking.

Chapter 6. Getting from Here to There.

Chapter 7. What About?

Chapter 8. Conclusion.

Afterword. Fixing the Rest of Our Economic Mess.

Notes.

About the Author.

Index.

"Kotlikoff has presented a thought-provoking proposal that merits
attention in the debate over financial regulation."

--Kenneth Silber, FrumForum.com, March 2010

"Jimmy Stewart Is Dead makes for provocative
reading. We certainly have squandered much of America's business
and economic strength in the pursuit of personal gain and huge if
not obscene bonuses. ... It might just be easier to find
another Jimmy Stewart. I'd call him Mr. Smith. And I'd ask him to
go to Washington."

--Philip Moeller, U.S. News & World Report

"Kotlikoff grabs us by the collar, brilliantly unveiling the
truth about our financial system. With scintillating arguments,
vivid examples, and terrific wit, he offers a powerful reform that
stops banks from gambling and restricts them to their legitimate
purpose, 'connecting borrowers to lenders and savers to investors.'
This is economics at its very best: deeply insightful and
powerfully useful. It will change the global debate."

--JEFFREY SACHS, Director of The Earth Institute, Quetelet
Professor of Development and Health Policy, Columbia University

"Financial reform needs something simple, clear, and, most of
all, effective. Read this book to get and understand the
answer."

--GEORGE SHULTZ, Distinguished Fellow, the Hoover Institution,
former U.S. Secretary of the Treasury, and former U.S. Secretary of
State

"At last! A real financial page-turner. Kotlikoff calls out the
bad actors behind the financial crisis and nails them cold. But he
also tells us how to prevent it from happening again. It's called
Limited Purpose Banking. Anyone can read this book--and
everyone should."

--SCOTT BURNS, Financial Columnist, Universal Press
Syndicate

"Jimmy Stewart Is Dead is a page-turner, as fast-paced as The
Simpsons, with new insights on every page. As fun as it is, Jimmy
Stewart is also deadly serious. It describes our deep financial
problems and offers an amazingly simple financial fix to prevent an
even worse crash. Everyone should read this book."

--GEORGE AKERLOF, Koshland Professor of Economics, University
of California at Berkeley, Nobel laureate in Economics

"Kotlikoff's book makes an impassioned, coherent, and convincing
case for Limited Purpose Banking."

--ROBERT E. LUCAS, Jr., John Dewey Distinguished Professor of
Economics, University of Chicago, Nobel laureate in Economics

"This book is 'must' reading for everyone who cares about the
future of the American economy."?

--ROBERT W. FOGEL, Walgreen Distinguished Service Professor,
University of Chicago, Nobel laureate in Economics

"Kotlikoff is right. Unless we institute fundamental reforms,
there will be an even greater crisis. This well-written book is a
must-read for those concerned with reforming the financial
system."

--EDWARD C. PRESCOTT, W. P. Carey Chair in Economics, Arizona
State University, Nobel laureate in Economics

"Certainly we need to abandon today's hazardous financial
system. Kotlikoff's Limited Purpose Banking plan is one of the best
visions to surface so far."

--EDMUND PHELPS, McVickar Professor of Political Economy,
Columbia University, Nobel laureate in Economics