Inside Job - Zupan, Mark A.

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Résumé :
National decline is typically blamed on special interests from the demand side of politics corrupting a country's institutions. The usual demand-side suspects include crony capitalists, consumer activists, economic elites, and labor unions. Less attention is given to government insiders on the supply side of politics - rulers, elected officials, bureaucrats, and public employees. In autocracies and democracies, government insiders have the motive, means, and opportunity to co-opt political power for their benefit and at the expense of national well-being. Many storied empires have succumbed to such inside jobs. Today, they imperil countries as different as China and the United States. Democracy - government by the people - does not ensure government for the people. Understanding how government insiders use their power to subvert the public interest - and how these negative consequences can be mitigated - is the topic of this book by Mark A. Zupan....

Biographie:
Mark A. Zupan is President of Alfred University, New York. He holds a BA from Harvard University, Massachusetts and a PhD in economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and has won several teaching awards. He has served on the boards of several for-profit companies, including Constellation Brands, PAETEC Holdings, Northern Trust, HNP Capital, iVEDiX, and Stocker Yale, as well as non-profits such as the United Way, the Harley School, GMAC, and AACSB. His previous book, Microeconomics: Theory and Applications (2012), co-authored with Edgar Browning, is currently in its twelfth edition. Zupan has published pieces in the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Los Angeles Times, BloombergBusinessweek.com, Huffington Post, Kiplingers, and Financial Times.

Sommaire:
Preface; Acknowledgements; 1. Government for the people?; 2. Why worry about government insiders and their profits?; 3. How do government insiders profit at the public's expense?; 4. What do government insiders stand to gain?; 5. What factors curb hijacking by government insiders?; 6. Why are government insiders so hard to control?; 7. Where and when has the state been co-opted from within?; 8. Government insiders: a day of reckoning for China?; 9. Government insiders: a day of reckoning for the US?; 10. How can we form a more perfect union?; Bibliography; Index.