The raw deal : how myths and misinformation about deficits, inflation, and wealth impoverish America / Ellen Frank.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 209-222) and index.

chapter 1. Introduction -- Money illusion -- The real economy -- The raw deal -- chapter 2. The great stock illusion -- The illusion of market democracy -- The illusion of market efficiency -- The illusion of public information -- The illusion of wealth creation -- The illusion of retirement security -- chapter 3. Debt delusions -- The myth of the burdensome debt -- The death of the Keynesian consensus -- The crowding-out myth -- Deficit politics -- The myth of the Social Security Trust Fund -- The paradox of thrift -- chapter 4. The inflation myth -- What's wrong with inflation? -- Sado-monetarism -- Greenspan and the myth of the NAIRU -- The triumph of central banking -- chapter 5. The almighty dollar -- Freeing capital -- The dollar standard -- The debt trap -- Hot money -- The real debacle -- The convertibility catastrophe -- Bailouts -- Global deflation -- chapter 6. A better deal -- Real weel-being -- The revolt of the elites -- A better deal -- Notes -- Acknowledgments -- Index.

Americans have fallen for the ticker tape. We watch our portfolios, happily or nervously. We know there were a few bad apples at Enron and World Com, but we also know: * The advent of mutual funds, low-cost brokerages, and the Internet has meant that the stock market is now more transparent, honest, and accessible to the small investor than ever before; * 401(k)s give the individual responsibility and control over their retirement savings, and that makes us more responsible citizens; * Federal deficits are bad for the economy, especially, somehow, when they're linked to social spending; and * Controlling inflation is the most important task of our economic policy. But as economist Ellen Frank shows us, what we know is wrong. Over the past twenty years, Americans have been fed a mash of confusing financial and economic information. This information has distorted popular understanding of how the economy really operates and camouflaged the transformation of economic policy from a tool for improving the living standards of all to a tool for securing the perquisites of those with financial wealth.