Terrorism and the Economy

“This is Napoleoni’s third book on the economics of terrorism and it might be her best so far.” —Grand Rapids Institute for Information Democracy

“Napoleoni (Terror, Inc.) lays the blame for the current economic crisis on the Bush Administration’s response to 9/11. Launching unwinnable wars on two fronts was, she argues, not only a disproportionate response, but came with unintended consequences. Because the Administration did not think it was feasible to raise taxes to cover the cost of the wars, the U.S. was dependent on international finance, particularly China. This bankrupted the U.S. economy, Napoleoni argues, and triggered ‘the biggest credit crunch in modern history,’ while creating conditions for the emergence of Islamic finance as ‘the most dynamic sector of global finance.’ Swinging from sweeping generalizations to genuinely intriguing ideas, the author draws upon past characterizations by Adam Smith, Karl Marx, and John Maynard Keynes of what she calls ‘true, authentic capitalism.’ She calls the capitalist of the past ‘an adversary worthy of respect’ in comparison to those today, ‘made rich by globalization who are either thieves or simpletons.'” —Publishers Weekly