Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    The Age of Selfishness: Ayn Rand, Morality, and the Financial Crisis
    The Age of Selfishness: Ayn Rand, Morality, and the Financial Crisis
    The Age of Selfishness: Ayn Rand, Morality, and the Financial Crisis
    Ebook241 pages2 hours

    The Age of Selfishness: Ayn Rand, Morality, and the Financial Crisis

    By Darryl Cunningham and Michael Goodwin

    4/5

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    “A sympathetic but deeply critical biography of [Ayn] Rand and the eventual role of libertarian philosophy in the recent financial crisis” (The New York Times Book Review).
     
    Tracing the emergence of Ayn Rand’s philosophy of objectivism in the 1940s to her present-day influence, Darryl Cunningham’s latest work of investigative graphic nonfiction leads readers to the heart of the global financial crisis of 2008. Cunningham uses Rand’s biography to illuminate the policies that led to the economic crash in the United States and in Europe, and how her philosophy continues to affect today’s politics and policies, starting with her most noted disciple, economist Alan Greenspan (former chairman of the Federal Reserve). Cunningham also shows how right-wing conservatives, libertarians, and the Tea Party movement have co-opted Rand’s teachings (and inherent contradictions) to promote personal gain and profit at the expense of the middle class. Tackling the complexities of economics by distilling them down to a series of concepts accessible to all age groups, Cunningham ultimately delivers a devastating analysis of our current economic world.
     
    “This book is a superb example of how powerful graphic nonfiction can be in taking complex events and making them frighteningly clear.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)
     
    “There are moments of brilliance here and excellent economic explication.” —Library Journal
     
    “This is a well-researched, detail-packed book that I’ll need to read a few more times to fully digest.” —Boing Boing
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherOpen Road Integrated Media
    Release dateMar 31, 2015
    ISBN9781613127674
    The Age of Selfishness: Ayn Rand, Morality, and the Financial Crisis
    Author

    Darryl Cunningham

    DARRYL CUNNINGHAM is a cartoonist and award-winning graphic journalist, best known for his highly acclaimed Psychiatric Tales, Science Tales, Graphic Science, Billionaires and Supercrash, a New York Times bestseller. He lives in Yorkshire.

    Read more from Darryl Cunningham

    Related to The Age of Selfishness

    Related ebooks

    Economics For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      A Nation Coming Apart

      Nov 12, 2019

      A Nation Coming Apart
      5 min read

    • Article

      The Most 2020 Books Of 2020

      Nov 28, 2020

      “THAT’S so 2020,” people collectively heaved, again and again, during a year ravaged by a global pandemic, climate crises and political and social dissent. As our worlds careened off the cliffs of normalcy, some books were so prescient – so very well

      2 min read

    • Article

      2020 Is Winding Down, But The Drama Isn't: Read These Books Now To Make Sense Of It

      Sep 9, 2020

      Trainwreck. Demented. A dumpster fire of a year. We've all seen the social media memes, and most of us are ready to be done with 2020. But it isn't over yet. We still have a rancorous election season ahead of us as the country continues to reel from

      7 min read

    • Article

      I Have Come to Bury Ayn Rand

      Mar 24, 2021

      My father, Sloan Wilson, wrote novels that would help define 1950s America. I loved and admired him, but the prospect of following in the footsteps of The Man in the Grey Flannel Suit and A Summer Place was like being expected to climb Mount Everest.

      12 min read

    • Article

      Telling Secrets: The Millions Interviews Steve Almond

      May 5, 2022

      "Obviously, there are real risks to writing about the disenfranchised from a position of privilege.... So if I get anything wrong, I’ll deserve whatever criticism comes my way." The post Telling Secrets: The Millions Interviews Steve Almond appeared

      8 min read

    • Article

      Graham Greene’s ‘Entertainments’ and The Problem of Writing from Life

      Apr 11, 2018

      For Greene, the moralizing literary artist, the therapy of commercial fiction itself becomes an object of his moralizing.  The post Graham Greene’s ‘Entertainments’ and The Problem of Writing from Life appeared first on The Million

      13 min read

    • Article

      The Best Nonfiction Books of 2019

      Nov 23, 2019

      The Best Nonfiction Books of 2019
      7 min read

    • Article

      Mohsin Hamid: ‘When The Political Pollen Gets High, I’m Going To Sneeze’

      Jul 31, 2022

      The writer Mohsin Hamid, who turned 50 this month, divides his time between Lahore, New York and London. He has worked as a management consultant and as chief storytelling officer for the advertising agency Wolff Olins. His second novel, The Reluctan

      4 min read

    • Article

      Reinventing After Chaos

      Mar 20, 2020

      Reinventing After Chaos
      4 min read

    • Article

      Enter the Ambition Fatigue

      Apr 8, 2017

      Enter the Ambition Fatigue
      6 min read

    • Article

      Reinventing After Chaos

      Mar 20, 2020

      Reinventing After Chaos
      4 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for The Age of Selfishness

    4/5

    35 ratings2 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 4/5
      It would be a mistake to read this as a book showing the influence of Ayn Rand on later economic events (as some earlier comments have suggested). Instead the author offers three set pieces on the rise of selfishness as a virtue with modern society. The first offers an excellent sketch of the life of Rand, and how she was led to construct her "philosophy" of objectivism, which makes selfishness its highest value. Alan Greenspan, chairman of the Federal Reserve, as a disciple, and Paul Ryan, currently being considered to become Speaker of the House, has made her writings required reading for his office staff.Part II looks at the financial crisis of 2008, and its roots in the unfettered greed of bankers and hedge fund managers, all putting into practice the priority of personal selfishness above the good of all others, including the national interest. Part III takes a broader philosophical overview of the problems, critiquing both conservatives and liberals but finding the greater harm done by the former.
    • 5/5
      My what a depressing book. Very quick read though. Of course you have to identify the cause of an illness before you can cure it. This book is a good diagnosis and primer.

    Book preview

    The Age of Selfishness - Darryl Cunningham

    Enjoying the preview?
    Page 1 of 1