Mintz, Morton and Cohen, Jerry S. America, Inc.: Who Owns and Operates the
United States. New York: Dell Publishing, 1971. 424 pages.
Morton Mintz, a Washington Post reporter, and Jerry S. Cohen, former
chief counsel of the Senate Antitrust and Monopoly Subcommittee, teamed up
in the 1970s to write two blockbuster books -- America, Inc. and Power,
Inc. -- on corruption in the U.S. Both cover the same territory: bribery,
profiteering, special-interest lobbying, politicians, regulatory agencies,
monopolies, concentration of power in the media, white collar crime, lack
of accountability, government and corporate secrecy, influence of big
money on elections, the national security state, and self-dealing in the
professions (doctors, dentists, accountants, banks, unions, insurance).
Both also use the same technique of making a point my naming names and
giving specific examples culled from news accounts and other sources.
Remember, this was the 1970s when corruption wasn't an issue in
America. Two decades later the infrastructure is collapsing, the economy
is sick, and the shrinking middle class is wondering how their kids will
afford an education and be able to buy their own homes. The dollar value
of the examples provided in these books provokes barely a yawn these days
-- after the deficits, savings and loan scandals, junk bonds, and golden
parachutes of the 1980s. But Mintz and Cohen saw it coming, and it's not
their fault that no one addressed the issue while there was still time.
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