I decided to read It’s the Economy, Stupid mainly because of the cover which told me that this book would explain why Donald Trump was elected President. I did not understand it before reading this book and still do not understand.

But despite that disappointment I liked It’s the Economy, Stupid. It clearly lays out the case that the economy is just not working for many people. I can understand that and believe it is obvious.

But what I fail to understand to how this translated into electing a rich businessman who clearly favors the interests of himself and other rich businessmen over the interests of the vast majority of the population. President Trump has many other faults and I have blogged about some of them but I will just stick to his economic faults in this review.

Although I was a bit disappointed the book did not explain how or why Donald Trump became President Trump, I did like the book and recommend It’s the Economy, Stupid by Christos A. Djonis

This short book is a quick n' easy dive into the economy of United States. How did our democracy achieve this level of corporatism? What effects have the booming military-industrial complex and the War on Drugs had on our budget? And of course, what is the state of our welfare system and what are some options for correcting the course of our deficit?
The text has clearly been well researched, but it was a bit disappointing to only hear one side of every argument. Overall, Djonis has presented his statistically informed opinions in this "passion project." Still an interesting and clearly well-researched read, but it leaves me wanting more information, really just a more critical dissection of the economic solutions posited.

Djonis admits right away that he is not a professional economist. He is a business owner and avid researcher. He wanted to better understand what voters thought of the 2016 presidential candidates, the federal court, and the economy. This book is the result.

He begins by helping readers understand economic terms and the fundamentals of the U S economy and how the actions of politicians affect it. I found the definitions a bit hard to understand and had to reread some several times before they became clear.

However, the rest of the book was great. I did not know to the degree the quality of life in the U S had declined in the last forty years. With stagnating wages, one in three Americans “cannot sustain themselves without some form of government assistance.” (110/1281) In other words, they live below the poverty line. Employee benefits are not regulated in the U S so the U S employee benefits rank at the bottom of industrialized nations. (141/1281) Djonis writes about corporations, their lobbying and how government policy is manipulated.

There is a great amount of well presented information included in this book. I can tell he has done a great deal of research. He gives many graphs and charts to illustrate his findings. He adds what he thinks should be done to strengthen the U S economy and draw down the ever growing national debt.

I recommend this book to readers who would like to understand how the U S economy works. You'll find lots of information on corporations, wages, medical expenses and more. You'll also be encouraged to take action. Unfortunately, most of that action would need to be taken by our representatives and senators. I think the economic future of the U S looks dim.

I received a complimentary egalley of this book through NetGalley. My comments are an independent and honest review.

The most readable economics book I've seen in a long while. While Djonis has a political slant, he generally explains well enough that even those who don't agree with him will read on - and maybe be convinced. If I weren't convinced by what he says, the bibliography could keep me busy for weeks.

I wasn't really sure what to expect when I requested this book from Netgalley, but it turns out this was a good pick for me. If, like me, you're sick and tired of non-stop partisan propaganda, this book will provide you with unbiased facts. The fact that I have to specify unbiased facts, as if there are any other kinds of facts, is really much of the problem. And it's embarrassing to admit this, as I consider myself well-educated enough to be logical and objective, but even I have fallen prey to the machinations of the media.

Don't get me wrong. I am disgusted by the lack of coverage of issues that really matter. But I have allowed myself to watch discussion panels to obtain differing points of view. I have a tendency to shut down when people use inflammatory language, and I'm realizing maybe that's because I instinctively know that when someone resorts to insults and repetition of sound bytes, they've probably been brainwashed already. This book made me realize just how prevalent that is — and it goes both ways.

Overall, I would have to say this book was both enlightening and depressing. The author points out that if the minimum wage had risen along with worker productivity and inflation since the early 1950s, today it would have been set at $21.72 per hour! And, this little factoid was particularly depressing: “Due to the rising debt, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates that in the next twenty years, the annual income of a family of four (when adjusted for inflation) will be worth $16,000 less than today! A disturbing estimate not only for the 44 percent of people whose earnings today can buy less than the minimum wage in 1968, but to every American, since within the next two decades, with the value of the dollar going down and the cost of living going up, millions more will be joining those already struggling to make ends meet.”

No discussion of the economy would be complete without addressing the military industrial complex as well as propaganda. This quote from Hitler's propaganda chief, Herman Goering was particularly chilling: “Of course the people don't want war. But after all, it's the leaders of the country who determine the policy, and it's always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether it's a democracy, a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to greater danger.”

The book is chock-full of charts and graphs and numbers to prove the points, and he even finishes with a list of very sensible suggestions to fix things. The problem is that groups have become so polarized to one another that it's difficult to find people who are willing to listen. And it may be even more difficult to effect change at the federal level because the people in power don't want to change anything because it's working for them. Ultimately, I finished this book with very mixed feelings: anger, frustration, despondency, and maybe a little bit of hope. I’m trying to hold on to the hope. I recommend the book.

The author clearly has an agenda for pushing socialism as a replacement for the American capitalist economy. He has lots and lots of charts throughout the book.

It was not enjoyable and disturbing rather than enlightening.

I can not recommend this book and will not seek others by this author.

NetGalley and the publisher, Page Publishing, Inc., made this ARC available to me in exchange for an honest review.