Greedy Bastards

January 16, 2012
Former financial news anchor and host of CNBC's "Fast Money," Ratigan delivers an energetic, powerful, and at times unsettling portrait of America in crisis, dramatically rendered with the chiaroscuro of sobering statistics: infant mortality rates are double that of France, Japan, and Australia, and more than 40 million Americans are currently living in poverty. Ratigan's suggestions for overhaul seem interesting, though more so in terms of concept than in actual execution. To fix the fraught educational system, he benignly suggests we "Find the Teachers Who Create Effective Learning Environments" and implement performance-based positions. Later, Ratigan describes efficiency as the "silver bullet that will kill the vampire of the incumbent energy industry," with a nod to Germany's so-far-so-good push to becoming independent of oil and nuclear power by 2050. Given the book's fast-paced and dramatic delivery, it's easy to see why Ratigan was a popular TV personality. He outlines his simple, concise arguments with memorable subheads like the provocative "Thought for Sale," and even though his portrait of the U.S. is bleak, he believes we have options. The "Ratigan Hypothesis"âthat "we are the first generation to be able to use modern communications tools to fix our debt problem without resorting to war"âis compelling enough to warrant serious consideration. Illus.