Barry C. Lynn is director of the Markets, Enterprise, and Resiliency Initiative, and a senior fellow, at the New America Foundation. He is author of Cornered: The New Monopoly Capitalism and the Economics of Destruction (Wiley 2009) and End of the Line: The Rise and Coming Fall of the Global Corporation (Doubleday 2005). Lynn’s groundbreaking writings on industrial interdependence among nations and the growing fragility of complex industrial systems have attracted wide attention, and he has been invited to present his work to high officials in Japan, Germany, Britain, France, Taiwan, and the European Commission, as well as in the White House and U.S. Treasury Department.
Lynn’s writings on the political and economic effects of the extreme consolidation of power in the U.S. and U.K. economies have influenced the thinking of policymakers and antitrust professionals on both sides of the Atlantic. Lynn has consulted with conservative and liberal political parties in America and Britain, as well as with Fortune 500 businesses, labor and industrial unions, and with academic groups. His articles have appeared in publications including Harper’s, the Financial Times, Harvard Business Review, and The National Interest, and he has appeared on CNN, CBS, the BBC, National Public Radio, MSNBC, C-Span, and the Christian Broadcasting Network, among others. Prior to joining New America, Lynn was executive editor of Global Business Magazine for seven years, and worked as a correspondent in Peru, Venezuela, and the Caribbean for the Associated Press and Agence France Presse.
In his new book, CORNERED: The New Monopoly Capitalism And The Economics Of Destruction, New America Foundation's Barry C. Lynn takes an explosive look at how Wall Street financiers took advantage of the overthrow of our antimonopoly laws to consolidate unprecedented powers, and how they use these powers in ways that destroy jobs, degrade safety, crush independent businesses, pervert innovation, harm our environment, and threaten the political foundations of our democratic republic.
In CORNERED, Barry also continues his path-breaking analysis of how financiers make industrial systems and banks TOO BIG TO FAIL, which he began in his previous book, End of the Line.
Endorsements for Cornered:
Cornered has changed my view of what's gone wrong with American capitalism. Brilliantly argued and meticulously reported, it confronts with the age-old enemy of both progressives and libertarian conservatives -- the power of monopoly.
-Barbara Ehrenreich, author of Nickel and Dimed and Brightsided.
If you thought you knew how the world works, think again. In this razor-sharp and chilling analysis of today's production system, Lynn hits us - and hits us hard - with his warning about the physical dangers posed by the concentration in our industrial and food systems, which has advanced so far so quickly without most of us realizing. This is a truly groundbreaking and eye-opening work that everyone interested in understanding how the world really operates should read.
-Ha Joon Chang, winner Leontief Prize in economics, author Bad Samaritans.
Cornered is a real eye-opener for America's business community. Barry Lynn details how the concentration of power in large global corporations can hurt entrepreneurs, stunt innovation, and slow growth. This book is essential to understanding how we got into our current mess.
-Michael Mandel, chief economist, BusinessWeek.
If economic institutions are too big to fail, then they are too big. That's a lesson we learned from the recent economic crisis. Or did we? In Cornered, Barry Lynn shows how Washington has doubled down on the same failed policies. Cornered is not only a history, it is a guide to the next meltdown. A great argument, greatly needed.
-James P. Pinkerton, Fox News Channel, advisor to presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush.
Is the United States heading down the same economic path as Mexico? As Barry Lynn makes clear in this stunning book, the answer appears to be yes -- America's political economy is increasingly ruled by private monopolists who choke off growth and use the powers of government for their own ends. Yet Lynn also delivers a true message of hope - Americans, if they ally in a pragmatic fashion with peoples in other nations, can once more put the forces of competition to use building a better society for all.
-Jorge Castaneda, former Foreign Minister of Mexico, author Companero.
As a laissez-faire libertarian, I don't agree with Barry C. Lynn very often. But he always makes me check my premises and Cornered should be read by everyone interested in the future of capitalism.
-Nick Gillespie, editor in chief, Reason.tv and Reason.com
Praise for Barry C. Lynn's previous book: End of the Line: The Rise and Coming Fall of the Global Corporation:
Washington Post
"Tom Friedman for grown-ups."
The New York Review
A "powerful polemic... wide-ranging and thoroughly researched." Lynn's proposals "represent a clear shift from the naive faith in the benign effects of global market forces that has shaped American policy since the cold war."
The Economist
"A chilly blast against globalisation. But it is not the usual, ill-informed rant against "evil" global corporations... The way the world now makes things is fascinatingly described in this book."
USA Today
"A great primer on the history of the corporate movement toward outsourcing, logistics and single sourcing... A strength of the book is Lynn's depth of research into the political, economic and cultural climates that led to our current business model."
Salon
"Lynn's argument challenges the current dominant paradigm on its own terms, making a compelling case that the long-term economic effects of shareholder-run capitalism will be disastrous, for both balance sheets and the realpolitik arena of international relations."
The American Prospect
"If you want to feel good about globalization, read Friedman. If you want a report on the underside of globalization, read William Greider. If you want to understand how the dominant business model of our time contains the seeds of future crises, read Lynn."
The National Interest
"Lynn is emerging as our generation's Peter Drucker, able to move seamlessly and gracefully from the micro and the mechanical to the strategic and the geopolitical."
Reason Magazine
Lynn is one of "the most provocative minds in America."
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