Myths of American Capitalism

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Charleston Library Society

Event Image Sizing for Web - Sen. Gramm - Aug 7

Myths of American Capitalism

Since the dawn of the Industrial Revolution, capitalism has unleashed unimaginable growth in opportunity and prosperity. We are honored to welcome Senator Phil Gramm, economist, retired congressman, and one of America’s premier public policy advocates, to share his latest book, Triumph of Economic Freedom, and expound upon seven pivotal moments in our country’s economic history that have largely defined the role of government and how the 21st-century world works.

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About the Book

Since the dawn of the Industrial Revolution, capitalism has unleashed unimaginable growth in opportunity and prosperity. And yet, at key points in American history, economic disruption has led to a greater role for government, ostensibly to protect against capitalism’s excesses. Today, the government regulates, mandates, subsidizes, and controls a growing share of the American economy. In this book, Phil Gramm, one of America’s premier public policy advocates, and noted economist Donald J. Boudreaux look at the seven events and issues in American history that define, for most Americans, the role of government and how the 21st-century world works. To many Americans, these 5 periods of American history-the Industrial Revolution, Progressive Era, Great Depression, decline of America’s postwar preeminence in world trade, and the Great Recession—along with the existing levels of income inequality and poverty, represent strong evidence for expanding government in American life. Gramm and Boudreaux argue that the evidence points to a contrary verdict: government interference and failed policies pose the most significant threat to economic freedom. Setting up each topic with a “just the facts” approach that defies partisanship, Gramm and Boudreaux provide a compelling and highly readable, powerful reassessment that will challenge open-minded readers to rethink the conventional wisdom and the policies that spring from it.

About the Author

Senator Gramm joined Lone Star Funds as Vice Chairman in December 2012. He served as Vice Chairman of UBS Investment Bank from December 2002 to December 2011. At UBS, he provided senior leadership in such landmark IPOs as Visa, the China Ocean Shipping Company (COSCO), the China Merchants Bank, and LG Phillips in Korea. He was instrumental in the follow-on equity offering for the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, the privatization of Telstra in Australia, and the sale of 20% of Akbank in Turkey to Citibank. Senator Gramm served six years in the US House and eighteen years in the US Senate. His legislative record includes landmark bills like the Gramm-Latta Budget, which reduced federal spending, rebuilt national defense, and mandated the Reagan tax cut, and the Gramm-Rudman Act, which placed the first binding constraints on federal spending. As Chairman of the Banking Committee, Senator Gramm steered through legislation modernizing banking, insurance, and securities law, which had been languishing in Congress for 60 years. The Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act allowed banks, securities firms, and insurance companies to affiliate as part of a Financial Services Holding Company. Gramm is a Nonresident Senior Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. Phil Gramm holds a Ph.D. from the University of Georgia in economics, the subject he taught at Texas A&M University for 12 years. He has published numerous articles and books, including The Myth of American Inequality, published in 2022. He is married to Dr. Wendy Lee Gramm, former Chairman of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission under Presidents Reagan and Bush. They have two sons and five grandchildren.