Review by Finakaranja -- Restore Trust by Werner NEFF

[Finakaranja]

[Following is a volunteer review of "Restore Trust" by Werner NEFF.]

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4 out of 4 stars

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Restore Trust is a book describing the economic situation of the United States of America. It is an economist's take on the various issues present in the country, as well an approach of how they may be addressed. The author, Werner Neff, highlights and vividly expounds on key aspects attributed to the detrimental state of the economy, some of these being poor reimbursement of minimum wage workers, budget deficits and exorbitantly priced healthcare facilities. He digs deep into the various causes of the unsatisfactory state of the country's economy, elucidating the numerous issues faced, especially by the poor in the country. He patently explains these factors at length citing the corresponding articles, clauses and even utterances that help put into perspective some of the hurdles faced.

This book is divided into six sections; Economic Thinking Errors, Institutional Poverty Traps, American Economy, Broken Democracy, American Democracy Unveiled, and finally the chapter from which the book's title is derived, Restore Trust. The author vividly paints a picture of how greatly the economy is affected, and how things got to the state in which they are. He takes the reader through the intrinsic workings of the government, politics and corporate organizations, and how they are mostly to blame for the gradual decline of the economy. The concepts in each of the chapters are well explained and quite informative. The author gives insightful descriptions of the issues, helping you see more than just what appears at face value.

I especially appreciated his view on what he termed as 'institutional poverty traps', elaborating the vicious cycle of poverty and how it is cultivated as well as maintained by institutional mechanisms. An example of these 'traps' is low minimum wage. People who work for the minimum wage can barely afford to sustain a decent living without having to rely on government subsidies, which in turn leave a huge dent in the country's budget, funds that would otherwise have been used to improve infrastructure, national security amongst other more proactive programmes. Neff also mentions different leaders in varying regimes and their contributions to the current state of affairs. An example is President Ronald Reagan's not so smart decision to borrow government money from Social Security Trust Funds in order to fund government expenditures in an effort to cover budget deficits.

Neff gives a comprehensive analysis of the problems, as well as practical solutions that could be applied to alleviate the current dismal condition. He gives a detailed explanation of all the issues as well as how to tackle them while providing illustrations where need be, and citing relevant articles which give the reader a clearer and more complete picture of the subject in question. He also provides footnotes which prove quite helpful in case the reader would like to do additional research.
The book is very informative, easy to understand and is impressively well edited, as I found no errors. Therefore, I feel Restore Trust deserves a perfect rating of 4 out of 4.
This is a very captivating read for anyone with an interest in economics or politics, as well as anyone seeking to understand the challenges facing the economy, their causes and answers. However, if you are not interested in the aforementioned topics, this may not be the book for you.

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Restore Trust
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[Ellylion]

Sounds like a great and very informative read! This book will definitely be interesting to a large audience and not only to those readers who study economics or work in this field Thank you for a great review!

[Melisa Jane]

Americans will definitely lean so much about their country. Nice review