Architects of Ruin: How Big Government Liberals Wrecked the Global Economy--And How They Will Do It Again If No One Stops Them - Paperback

by Peter Schweizer (Author)

In Architects of Ruin, New York Times bestselling author and conservative historian Peter Schweizer argues that the economic crisis was caused by liberals who used the power of government to create a subprime mortgage bubble that has ravaged the global economy. Rebutting charges that the financial collapse was caused by conservative deregulatory zeal, Schweizer, the author of Do as I Say (Not as I Do): Profiles in Liberal Hypocrisy, shows that it was actually the result of "do-good capitalism."

• A Failure of Regulation, Not Deregulation: Peter Schweizer meticulously dismantles the myth of deregulatory zeal, exposing how decades of misguided liberal policies and social engineering created the very conditions for collapse.
• The Community Reinvestment Act: Discover how a well-intentioned act designed to fight redlining was weaponized by activists to force banks into making trillions of dollars in high-risk loans to underqualified borrowers.
• Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac: Uncover the political hijacking of these mortgage giants, turning them from stabilizing forces into engines for an activist agenda that endangered the entire financial system.
• The Role of ACORN: Follow the thirty-year campaign by radical community organizers like ACORN who used intimidation and accusations of racism to systematically dismantle traditional lending standards.

Back Jacket

Was the financial collapsecaused by free-market capitalismand deregulation run amok, as liberals claim?

Not on your life, says Peter Schweizer. In Architects of Ruin, Schweizer describes how a coalition of left-wing activists, liberal politicians, and "do-good capitalists" on Wall Street leveraged government power to achieve their goal of broadening homeownership among minorities and the poor. The results were not only devastating to the economy, but hurt the very people they were supposedly trying to help.

This tale of liberal "Robin Hood capitalism run wild" has never beentold. But more than just a story about the past, Architects of Ruin is also an urgent warning about the future. The very same people who planted the seeds of the collapse are back in Washington, determined to use the crisis they caused as cover for a massive overhaul of the American economic system. These people have learned nothing from their past mistakes and are busy applying the same methods to other sectors of the economy--health care, the auto industry, real estate (again!), and above all the promotion of"green" technologies--inflating bubbles that are sure to bring about another crisis. Ordinary Americans who foot the bill for the last state-capitalist bubble have reason to be afraid--very afraid--of the inevitable result.