-
The Power Brokers
- The Struggle to Shape and Control the Electric Power Industry
- Narrated by: Joe Barrett
- Length: 11 hrs and 18 mins
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Buy for $17.90
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Publisher's summary
For more than a century, the interplay between private, investor-owned electric utilities and government regulators has shaped the electric power industry in the United States. Provision of an essential service to largely dependent consumers invited government oversight and ever more sophisticated market intervention. The industry has sought to manage, coopt, and profit from government regulation. In The Power Brokers, Jeremiah Lambert maps this complex interaction from the late 19th century to the present day.
Lambert's narrative focuses on seven important industry players: Samuel Insull, the principal industry architect and prime mover; David Lilienthal, chairman of the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), who waged a desperate battle for market share; Don Hodel, who presided over the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) in its failed attempt to launch a multiplant nuclear power program; Paul Joskow, the MIT economics professor who foresaw a restructured and competitive electric power industry; Enron's Ken Lay, master of political influence and market rigging; Amory Lovins, a pioneer proponent of sustainable power; and Jim Rogers, head of Duke Energy, a giant coal-fired utility threatened by decarbonization. Lambert tells how Insull built an empire in a regulatory vacuum and how the government entered the electricity marketplace by making cheap hydropower available through the TVA. He describes the failed overreach of the BPA, the rise of competitive electricity markets, Enron's market manipulation, Lovins' radical vision of a decentralized industry powered by renewables, and Rogers' remarkable effort to influence cap-and-trade legislation.
Lambert shows how the power industry has sought to use regulatory change to preserve or secure market dominance and how rogue players have gamed imperfectly restructured electricity markets. Integrating regulation and competition in this industry has proven a difficult experiment.
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
California Burning
- The Fall of Pacific Gas and Electric—and What It Means for America's Power Grid
- By: Katherine Blunt
- Narrated by: Nan McNamara
- Length: 9 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Pacific Gas and Electric was a legacy company built by innovators and visionaries, establishing California as a desirable home and economic powerhouse. In California Burning, Wall Street Journal reporter and Pulitzer finalist Katherine Blunt examines how that legacy fell apart—unraveling a long history of deadly failures in which Pacific Gas and Electric endangered millions of Northern Californians, through criminal neglect of its infrastructure.
-
-
Best book I've read this year.
- By Constance L. Gehrt on 10-21-23
By: Katherine Blunt
-
The Grid
- The Fraying Wires Between Americans and Our Energy Future
- By: Gretchen Bakke
- Narrated by: Emily Caudwell
- Length: 11 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The grid is an accident of history and of culture, in no way intrinsic to how we produce, deliver and consume electrical power. Yet this is the system the United States ended up with, a jerry-built structure now so rickety and near collapse that a strong wind or a hot day can bring it to a grinding halt. The grid is now under threat from a new source: renewable and variable energy, which puts stress on its logics as much as its components.
-
-
A disappointment
- By Ronald on 09-24-16
By: Gretchen Bakke
-
Superpower
- One Man's Quest to Transform American Energy
- By: Russell Gold
- Narrated by: Michael David Axtell
- Length: 9 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Meet Michael Skelly, the man boldly harnessing wind energy that could power America’s future and break its fossil fuel dependence in this "essential, compelling look into the future of the nation’s power grid" (Bryan Burrough, author of The Big Rich).
-
-
Disingenuous
- By George H. Wayne Jr. on 08-04-19
By: Russell Gold
-
Short Circuiting Policy
- Interest Groups and the Battle Over Clean Energy and Climate Policy in the American States
- By: Leah Cardamore Stokes
- Narrated by: Teri Schnaubelt
- Length: 13 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1999, Texas passed a landmark clean energy law, beginning a groundswell of new policies that promised to make the US a world leader in renewable energy. As Leah Stokes shows in Short Circuiting Policy, however, that policy did not lead to momentum in Texas, which failed to implement its solar laws or clean up its electricity system. Examining clean energy laws in Texas, Kansas, Arizona, and Ohio over 30 years Stokes argues that organized combat between advocate and opponent interest groups is central to explaining why states are not on track to address the climate crisis.
-
-
Realpolitik
- By Catherine on 12-30-20
-
America's Bank
- The Epic Struggle to Create the Federal Reserve
- By: Roger Lowenstein
- Narrated by: Robertson Dean
- Length: 9 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A tour de force of historical reportage, America’s Bank illuminates the tumultuous era and remarkable personalities that spurred the unlikely birth of America’s modern central bank, the Federal Reserve. Today, the Fed is the bedrock of the financial landscape, yet the fight to create it was so protracted and divisive that it seems a small miracle that it was ever established. For nearly a century, America, alone among developed nations, refused to consider any central or organizing agency in its financial system.
-
-
Important and Intriguing
- By Jean on 11-02-15
By: Roger Lowenstein
-
Wealth Secrets of the One Percent
- A Modern Manual to Getting Marvelously, Obscenely Rich
- By: Sam Wilkin
- Narrated by: Sam Wilkin, Joe Barrett
- Length: 12 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the richest Romans to the robber barons to today's bankers and tech billionaires, Sam Wilkin offers Freakonomics-esque insights into what it really takes to make a fortune. These stories of larger-than-life characters, strategies, and sacrifices reveal how the wealthiest did it, usually by a passion for finding loopholes, working around bureaucratic systems, and creating obstacles to competitors.
-
-
This is not a manual to getting "Obscenely Rich!"
- By Franck W. on 10-10-15
By: Sam Wilkin
-
California Burning
- The Fall of Pacific Gas and Electric—and What It Means for America's Power Grid
- By: Katherine Blunt
- Narrated by: Nan McNamara
- Length: 9 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Pacific Gas and Electric was a legacy company built by innovators and visionaries, establishing California as a desirable home and economic powerhouse. In California Burning, Wall Street Journal reporter and Pulitzer finalist Katherine Blunt examines how that legacy fell apart—unraveling a long history of deadly failures in which Pacific Gas and Electric endangered millions of Northern Californians, through criminal neglect of its infrastructure.
-
-
Best book I've read this year.
- By Constance L. Gehrt on 10-21-23
By: Katherine Blunt
-
The Grid
- The Fraying Wires Between Americans and Our Energy Future
- By: Gretchen Bakke
- Narrated by: Emily Caudwell
- Length: 11 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The grid is an accident of history and of culture, in no way intrinsic to how we produce, deliver and consume electrical power. Yet this is the system the United States ended up with, a jerry-built structure now so rickety and near collapse that a strong wind or a hot day can bring it to a grinding halt. The grid is now under threat from a new source: renewable and variable energy, which puts stress on its logics as much as its components.
-
-
A disappointment
- By Ronald on 09-24-16
By: Gretchen Bakke
-
Superpower
- One Man's Quest to Transform American Energy
- By: Russell Gold
- Narrated by: Michael David Axtell
- Length: 9 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Meet Michael Skelly, the man boldly harnessing wind energy that could power America’s future and break its fossil fuel dependence in this "essential, compelling look into the future of the nation’s power grid" (Bryan Burrough, author of The Big Rich).
-
-
Disingenuous
- By George H. Wayne Jr. on 08-04-19
By: Russell Gold
-
Short Circuiting Policy
- Interest Groups and the Battle Over Clean Energy and Climate Policy in the American States
- By: Leah Cardamore Stokes
- Narrated by: Teri Schnaubelt
- Length: 13 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1999, Texas passed a landmark clean energy law, beginning a groundswell of new policies that promised to make the US a world leader in renewable energy. As Leah Stokes shows in Short Circuiting Policy, however, that policy did not lead to momentum in Texas, which failed to implement its solar laws or clean up its electricity system. Examining clean energy laws in Texas, Kansas, Arizona, and Ohio over 30 years Stokes argues that organized combat between advocate and opponent interest groups is central to explaining why states are not on track to address the climate crisis.
-
-
Realpolitik
- By Catherine on 12-30-20
-
America's Bank
- The Epic Struggle to Create the Federal Reserve
- By: Roger Lowenstein
- Narrated by: Robertson Dean
- Length: 9 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A tour de force of historical reportage, America’s Bank illuminates the tumultuous era and remarkable personalities that spurred the unlikely birth of America’s modern central bank, the Federal Reserve. Today, the Fed is the bedrock of the financial landscape, yet the fight to create it was so protracted and divisive that it seems a small miracle that it was ever established. For nearly a century, America, alone among developed nations, refused to consider any central or organizing agency in its financial system.
-
-
Important and Intriguing
- By Jean on 11-02-15
By: Roger Lowenstein
-
Wealth Secrets of the One Percent
- A Modern Manual to Getting Marvelously, Obscenely Rich
- By: Sam Wilkin
- Narrated by: Sam Wilkin, Joe Barrett
- Length: 12 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the richest Romans to the robber barons to today's bankers and tech billionaires, Sam Wilkin offers Freakonomics-esque insights into what it really takes to make a fortune. These stories of larger-than-life characters, strategies, and sacrifices reveal how the wealthiest did it, usually by a passion for finding loopholes, working around bureaucratic systems, and creating obstacles to competitors.
-
-
This is not a manual to getting "Obscenely Rich!"
- By Franck W. on 10-10-15
By: Sam Wilkin
-
Stealth War
- How China Took Over While America's Elite Slept
- By: Robert Spalding
- Narrated by: Ray Porter
- Length: 7 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The media often suggest that Russia poses the greatest threat to America's national security, but the real danger lies farther east. While those in power have been distracted and disorderly, China has waged a six-front war on America's economy, military, diplomacy, technology, education, and infrastructure - and they're winning. It's almost too late to undo the shocking, though nearly invisible, victories of the Chinese. In Stealth War, retired Air Force Brigadier General Robert Spalding reveals China's motives and secret attacks on the West.
-
-
A General with a backbone loaded with truth "woke"
- By Jason on 10-01-19
By: Robert Spalding
-
Supercapitalism
- The Transformation of Business, Democracy, and Everyday Life
- By: Robert B. Reich
- Narrated by: Dick Hill
- Length: 9 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Since the 1970s, and notwithstanding three recessions, the U.S. economy has soared. American capitalism has been a triumph, and it has spread throughout the world. At the same time, argues the former U.S. secretary of labor, Robert B. Reich, the effectiveness of democracy in America has declined. It has grown less responsive to the citizenry, and people are feeling more and more helpless as a result.
-
-
Robert Reich for V.P. (of the U.S.)
- By Horace on 11-07-07
By: Robert B. Reich
-
Saving Capitalism
- For the Many, Not the Few
- By: Robert B. Reich
- Narrated by: Robert B. Reich
- Length: 8 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Saving Capitalism, Robert Reich reveals the entrenched cycles of power and influence that have damaged American capitalism, perpetuating a new oligarchy in which the 1 percent get ever richer and the rest - middle and working class alike - lose ever more economic agency, making for the greatest income inequality and wealth disparity since World War II.
-
-
A riveting economics book! Mind. Blown.
- By Nothing really matters on 04-18-16
By: Robert B. Reich
-
Capitalism in America
- A History
- By: Alan Greenspan, Adrian Wooldridge
- Narrated by: Ray Porter
- Length: 16 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the legendary former Fed Chairman and the acclaimed Economist writer and historian, the full, epic story of America's evolution from a small patchwork of threadbare colonies to the most powerful engine of wealth and innovation the world has ever seen.
-
-
Explains a lot
- By Scott on 02-18-19
By: Alan Greenspan, and others
-
The Quest
- Energy, Security, and the Remaking of the Modern World
- By: Daniel Yergin
- Narrated by: Robert Petkoff
- Length: 29 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A master storyteller as well as a leading energy expert, Daniel Yergin continues the riveting story begun in his Pulitzer Prize–winning book, The Prize. In The Quest, Yergin shows us how energy is an engine of global political and economic change and conflict, in a story that spans the energies on which our civilization has been built and the new energies that are competing to replace them. The Quest tells the inside stories, tackles the tough questions, and reveals surprising insights about coal, electricity, and natural gas.
-
-
Best nonfiction book of 2011
- By Joshua Kim on 05-06-12
By: Daniel Yergin
-
The Death of Money
- The Coming Collapse of the International Monetary System
- By: James Rickards
- Narrated by: Sean Pratt
- Length: 13 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The international monetary system has collapsed three times in the past hundred years, in 1914, 1939, and 1971. Each collapse was followed by a period of tumult: War, civil unrest, or significant damage to the stability of the global economy. Now James Rickards, the acclaimed author of Currency Wars, shows why another collapse is rapidly approaching - and why this time, nothing less than the institution of money itself is at risk.
-
-
A good review of the global financial system
- By Jean on 04-22-14
By: James Rickards
-
Private Empire
- ExxonMobil and American Power
- By: Steve Coll
- Narrated by: Malcolm Hillgartner
- Length: 24 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Steve Coll investigates the largest and most powerful private corporation in the United States, revealing the true extent of its power. ExxonMobil’s annual revenues are larger than the economic activity in the great majority of countries. In many of the countries where it conducts business, ExxonMobil’s sway over politics and security is greater than that of the United States embassy. In Washington, ExxonMobil spends more money lobbying Congress and the White House than almost any other corporation. Yet despite its outsized influence, it is a black box.
-
-
Please no more accents!
- By Zak on 07-24-12
By: Steve Coll
-
The Age of Edison
- Electric Light and the Invention of Modern America
- By: Ernest Freeberg
- Narrated by: Sean Pratt
- Length: 9 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The late 19th century was a period of explosive technological creativity, but arguably the most important invention of all was Thomas Edison’s incandescent light bulb. Unveiled in his Menlo Park, New Jersey, laboratory in 1879, the light bulb overwhelmed the American public with the sense of the birth of a new age. More than any other invention, the electric light marked the arrival of modernity.
-
-
great book
- By kyle on 03-10-16
By: Ernest Freeberg
-
The Green New Deal
- Why the Fossil Fuel Civilization Will Collapse by 2028 and the Bold Economic Plan to Save Life on Earth
- By: Jeremy Rifkin
- Narrated by: David Cochran Heath
- Length: 7 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Bestselling author and renowned economic and social theorist Jeremy Rifkin delivers the political narrative, technical framework, and economic plan for the debate now taking center stage across America. The concurrence of a stranded fossil fuel assets bubble and a green political vision opens up the possibility of a massive global paradigm shift into a post-carbon ecological era, hopefully in time to prevent a temperature rise that will tip us over the edge into runaway climate change.
-
-
More influenced by ideology than fact.
- By Amazon Customer on 09-21-20
By: Jeremy Rifkin
-
Overheated
- How Capitalism Broke the Planet - And How We Fight Back
- By: Kate Aronoff
- Narrated by: Erin Bennett
- Length: 16 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This damning account of the forces that have hijacked progress on climate change shares a bold vision of what it will take, politically and economically, to face the existential threat of global warming head-on.
-
-
A MUST READ 🔥
- By Parron B. on 01-31-23
By: Kate Aronoff
-
Putinomics
- Money and Power in Resurgent Russia
- By: Chris Miller
- Narrated by: Traber Burns
- Length: 8 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Putinomics, Chris Miller examines the making of Russian economic policy since Vladimir Putin took power in 1999. Miller argues that Putin's economic strategy has functioned far more effectively than most Westerners realize. While acknowledging that part of Putin's successes - above all, quadrupling per capita GDP in just a decade and a half - can be attributed to cashing in on high oil prices, Miller details the government policies that have also been fundamental to Russia's growth.
-
-
Go find something better
- By Anonymous User on 08-04-21
By: Chris Miller
-
An Extraordinary Time
- The End of the Postwar Boom and the Return of the Ordinary Economy
- By: Marc Levinson
- Narrated by: James Foster
- Length: 10 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A sweeping reappraisal of the last sixty years of world history, An Extraordinary Time describes how the postwar economic boom dissipated, undermining faith in government, destabilizing the global financial system, and forcing us to come to terms with how tumultuous our economy really is.
-
-
Good review of crucial turning point in history
- By Philo on 11-22-16
By: Marc Levinson
Related to this topic
-
Supercapitalism
- The Transformation of Business, Democracy, and Everyday Life
- By: Robert B. Reich
- Narrated by: Dick Hill
- Length: 9 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Since the 1970s, and notwithstanding three recessions, the U.S. economy has soared. American capitalism has been a triumph, and it has spread throughout the world. At the same time, argues the former U.S. secretary of labor, Robert B. Reich, the effectiveness of democracy in America has declined. It has grown less responsive to the citizenry, and people are feeling more and more helpless as a result.
-
-
Robert Reich for V.P. (of the U.S.)
- By Horace on 11-07-07
By: Robert B. Reich
-
Putinomics
- Money and Power in Resurgent Russia
- By: Chris Miller
- Narrated by: Traber Burns
- Length: 8 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Putinomics, Chris Miller examines the making of Russian economic policy since Vladimir Putin took power in 1999. Miller argues that Putin's economic strategy has functioned far more effectively than most Westerners realize. While acknowledging that part of Putin's successes - above all, quadrupling per capita GDP in just a decade and a half - can be attributed to cashing in on high oil prices, Miller details the government policies that have also been fundamental to Russia's growth.
-
-
Go find something better
- By Anonymous User on 08-04-21
By: Chris Miller
-
An Extraordinary Time
- The End of the Postwar Boom and the Return of the Ordinary Economy
- By: Marc Levinson
- Narrated by: James Foster
- Length: 10 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A sweeping reappraisal of the last sixty years of world history, An Extraordinary Time describes how the postwar economic boom dissipated, undermining faith in government, destabilizing the global financial system, and forcing us to come to terms with how tumultuous our economy really is.
-
-
Good review of crucial turning point in history
- By Philo on 11-22-16
By: Marc Levinson
-
How Asia Works
- Success and Failure in the World's Most Dynamic Region
- By: Joe Studwell
- Narrated by: Nigel Patterson
- Length: 11 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In How Asia Works, Joe Studwell distills extensive research into the economics of nine countries - Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines, Vietnam, and China - into an accessible narrative that debunks Western misconceptions, shows what really happened in Asia and why, and for once makes clear why some countries have boomed while others have languished.
-
-
The best economic development book I’ve ever seen
- By Jay on 02-17-20
By: Joe Studwell
-
Red Flags
- Why Xi's China Is in Jeopardy
- By: George Magnus
- Narrated by: Derek Perkins
- Length: 9 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Over the past four decades, China's remarkable transformation has garnered admiration but also sparked concern. George Magnus draws on his intimate knowledge of this dynamic nation to uncover the origins of its ascent and show why the economic traps it faces at home and the political challenges it faces abroad pose a serious threat to its continued rise.
-
-
A pessimistic vision with western liberal bias
- By Jeronimo L. Jimenez on 10-23-20
By: George Magnus
-
Russia's Crony Capitalism
- The Path from Market Economy to Kleptocracy
- By: Anders Aslund
- Narrated by: Roger Clark
- Length: 12 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This insightful study explores how the economic system Vladimir Putin has developed in Russia works to consolidate control over the country. By appointing his close associates as heads of state enterprises and by giving control of the FSB and the judiciary to his friends from the KGB, he has enriched his business friends from Saint Petersburg with preferential government deals. Thus, Putin has created a super wealthy and loyal plutocracy that owes its existence to authoritarianism.
-
-
great book, so so narration
- By Rob on 05-20-19
By: Anders Aslund
-
Supercapitalism
- The Transformation of Business, Democracy, and Everyday Life
- By: Robert B. Reich
- Narrated by: Dick Hill
- Length: 9 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Since the 1970s, and notwithstanding three recessions, the U.S. economy has soared. American capitalism has been a triumph, and it has spread throughout the world. At the same time, argues the former U.S. secretary of labor, Robert B. Reich, the effectiveness of democracy in America has declined. It has grown less responsive to the citizenry, and people are feeling more and more helpless as a result.
-
-
Robert Reich for V.P. (of the U.S.)
- By Horace on 11-07-07
By: Robert B. Reich
-
Putinomics
- Money and Power in Resurgent Russia
- By: Chris Miller
- Narrated by: Traber Burns
- Length: 8 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Putinomics, Chris Miller examines the making of Russian economic policy since Vladimir Putin took power in 1999. Miller argues that Putin's economic strategy has functioned far more effectively than most Westerners realize. While acknowledging that part of Putin's successes - above all, quadrupling per capita GDP in just a decade and a half - can be attributed to cashing in on high oil prices, Miller details the government policies that have also been fundamental to Russia's growth.
-
-
Go find something better
- By Anonymous User on 08-04-21
By: Chris Miller
-
An Extraordinary Time
- The End of the Postwar Boom and the Return of the Ordinary Economy
- By: Marc Levinson
- Narrated by: James Foster
- Length: 10 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A sweeping reappraisal of the last sixty years of world history, An Extraordinary Time describes how the postwar economic boom dissipated, undermining faith in government, destabilizing the global financial system, and forcing us to come to terms with how tumultuous our economy really is.
-
-
Good review of crucial turning point in history
- By Philo on 11-22-16
By: Marc Levinson
-
How Asia Works
- Success and Failure in the World's Most Dynamic Region
- By: Joe Studwell
- Narrated by: Nigel Patterson
- Length: 11 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In How Asia Works, Joe Studwell distills extensive research into the economics of nine countries - Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines, Vietnam, and China - into an accessible narrative that debunks Western misconceptions, shows what really happened in Asia and why, and for once makes clear why some countries have boomed while others have languished.
-
-
The best economic development book I’ve ever seen
- By Jay on 02-17-20
By: Joe Studwell
-
Red Flags
- Why Xi's China Is in Jeopardy
- By: George Magnus
- Narrated by: Derek Perkins
- Length: 9 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Over the past four decades, China's remarkable transformation has garnered admiration but also sparked concern. George Magnus draws on his intimate knowledge of this dynamic nation to uncover the origins of its ascent and show why the economic traps it faces at home and the political challenges it faces abroad pose a serious threat to its continued rise.
-
-
A pessimistic vision with western liberal bias
- By Jeronimo L. Jimenez on 10-23-20
By: George Magnus
-
Russia's Crony Capitalism
- The Path from Market Economy to Kleptocracy
- By: Anders Aslund
- Narrated by: Roger Clark
- Length: 12 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This insightful study explores how the economic system Vladimir Putin has developed in Russia works to consolidate control over the country. By appointing his close associates as heads of state enterprises and by giving control of the FSB and the judiciary to his friends from the KGB, he has enriched his business friends from Saint Petersburg with preferential government deals. Thus, Putin has created a super wealthy and loyal plutocracy that owes its existence to authoritarianism.
-
-
great book, so so narration
- By Rob on 05-20-19
By: Anders Aslund
-
The World Turned Upside Down
- America, China, and the Struggle for Global Leadership
- By: Clyde Prestowitz
- Narrated by: Paul Heitsch
- Length: 13 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When China joined the World Trade Organization in 2001, most experts expected the WTO rules and procedures would liberalize China and make it "a responsible stakeholder in the liberal world order". But the experts made the wrong bet. China today is liberalizing neither economically nor politically but, if anything, becoming more authoritarian and mercantilist. In this book, renowned globalization and Asia expert Clyde Prestowitz describes the key challenges posed by China and the strategies America and the Free World must adopt to meet them.
-
-
Informative and engaging
- By Christopher P Pratt on 02-28-21
By: Clyde Prestowitz
-
Goliath
- The 100-Year War Between Monopoly Power and Democracy
- By: Matt Stoller
- Narrated by: Jonathan Davis
- Length: 20 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A startling look at how concentrated financial power and consumerism transformed American politics, resulting in the emergence of populism and authoritarianism, the fall of the Democratic Party - while also providing the steps needed to create a new democracy.
-
-
The Fall of American Populist Economics
- By Charlie Morton on 02-26-20
By: Matt Stoller
-
The Death of Money
- The Coming Collapse of the International Monetary System
- By: James Rickards
- Narrated by: Sean Pratt
- Length: 13 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The international monetary system has collapsed three times in the past hundred years, in 1914, 1939, and 1971. Each collapse was followed by a period of tumult: War, civil unrest, or significant damage to the stability of the global economy. Now James Rickards, the acclaimed author of Currency Wars, shows why another collapse is rapidly approaching - and why this time, nothing less than the institution of money itself is at risk.
-
-
A good review of the global financial system
- By Jean on 04-22-14
By: James Rickards
-
The Quest
- Energy, Security, and the Remaking of the Modern World
- By: Daniel Yergin
- Narrated by: Robert Petkoff
- Length: 29 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A master storyteller as well as a leading energy expert, Daniel Yergin continues the riveting story begun in his Pulitzer Prize–winning book, The Prize. In The Quest, Yergin shows us how energy is an engine of global political and economic change and conflict, in a story that spans the energies on which our civilization has been built and the new energies that are competing to replace them. The Quest tells the inside stories, tackles the tough questions, and reveals surprising insights about coal, electricity, and natural gas.
-
-
Best nonfiction book of 2011
- By Joshua Kim on 05-06-12
By: Daniel Yergin
-
13 Bankers
- The Wall Street Takeover and the Next Financial Meltdown
- By: Simon Johnson, James Kwak
- Narrated by: Erik Synnestvedt
- Length: 8 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Even after the ruinous financial crisis of 2008, America is still beset by the depredations of an oligarchy that is now bigger, more profitable, and more resistant to regulation than ever. Anchored by six megabanks, which together control assets amounting to more than 60 percent of the country's gross domestic product, these financial institutions (now more emphatically "too big to fail") continue to hold the global economy hostage.
-
-
Easy to Understand and Comprehend
- By Kyle on 04-11-10
By: Simon Johnson, and others
-
Capitalism in America
- A History
- By: Alan Greenspan, Adrian Wooldridge
- Narrated by: Ray Porter
- Length: 16 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the legendary former Fed Chairman and the acclaimed Economist writer and historian, the full, epic story of America's evolution from a small patchwork of threadbare colonies to the most powerful engine of wealth and innovation the world has ever seen.
-
-
Explains a lot
- By Scott on 02-18-19
By: Alan Greenspan, and others
-
FDR's Folly
- How Roosevelt and His New Deal Prolonged the Great Depression
- By: Jim Powell
- Narrated by: William Hughes
- Length: 9 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the minds of historians and the American public alike, Franklin Delano Roosevelt was one of our greatest presidents, not least because he supposedly saved America from the Great Depression. But as historian Jim Powell reveals in this groundbreaking book, Roosevelt's New Deal policies actually prolonged and exacerbated the economic disaster.
-
-
Scones for the Tea Party
- By Chiefkent on 06-11-12
By: Jim Powell
-
Private Empire
- ExxonMobil and American Power
- By: Steve Coll
- Narrated by: Malcolm Hillgartner
- Length: 24 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Steve Coll investigates the largest and most powerful private corporation in the United States, revealing the true extent of its power. ExxonMobil’s annual revenues are larger than the economic activity in the great majority of countries. In many of the countries where it conducts business, ExxonMobil’s sway over politics and security is greater than that of the United States embassy. In Washington, ExxonMobil spends more money lobbying Congress and the White House than almost any other corporation. Yet despite its outsized influence, it is a black box.
-
-
Please no more accents!
- By Zak on 07-24-12
By: Steve Coll
-
Windfall
- How the New Energy Abundance Upends Global Politics and Strengthens America's Power
- By: Meghan L. O'Sullivan
- Narrated by: Eliza Foss
- Length: 13 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As a new administration focuses on raising American energy production, O'Sullivan's Windfall describes how new energy realities have profoundly affected the world of international relations and security. New technologies led to oversupplied oil markets and an emerging natural gas glut. This did more than drive down prices. It changed the structure of markets and altered the way many countries wield power and influence.
-
-
A super-sized editorial
- By Easycfp on 10-05-18
-
Building the New American Economy
- Smart, Fair, and Sustainable
- By: Jeffrey D. Sachs, Bernie Sanders - foreward
- Narrated by: Rudy Sanda
- Length: 4 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
With a nation seemingly more divided than ever, many worry that Americans risk losing ground on solving the complex, interrelated problems the country faces - including rising inequality, the specter of climate change, astronomical health care costs, and economic stagnation. The renowned economist Jeffrey D. Sachs offers a practical approach to move America toward a new consensus: sustainable development.
-
-
If only....
- By Baboo TH on 01-24-18
By: Jeffrey D. Sachs, and others
-
Stealth War
- How China Took Over While America's Elite Slept
- By: Robert Spalding
- Narrated by: Ray Porter
- Length: 7 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The media often suggest that Russia poses the greatest threat to America's national security, but the real danger lies farther east. While those in power have been distracted and disorderly, China has waged a six-front war on America's economy, military, diplomacy, technology, education, and infrastructure - and they're winning. It's almost too late to undo the shocking, though nearly invisible, victories of the Chinese. In Stealth War, retired Air Force Brigadier General Robert Spalding reveals China's motives and secret attacks on the West.
-
-
A General with a backbone loaded with truth "woke"
- By Jason on 10-01-19
By: Robert Spalding
-
Every Nation for Itself
- Winners and Losers in a G-Zero World
- By: Ian Bremmer
- Narrated by: Willis Sparks
- Length: 6 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Forget the G-7 and the G-20; we are entering a leaderless "G- Zero" era- with profound implications for every country and corporation. The world power structure is facing a vacuum at the top. With the unifying urgency of the financial crisis behind us, the diverse political and economic values of the G-20 are curtailing the world's most powerful governments' ability to mediate growing global challenges. There is no viable alternative group to take its place.
-
-
Well articulated and thought provoking
- By Mark on 08-09-12
By: Ian Bremmer
What listeners say about The Power Brokers
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- John Wooten
- 09-25-23
very interesting history of US power
and main influencers therein
especially good focus on capital market aspects
nice job 👍
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Dale Sarver
- 05-19-22
the history of power utilities from Edison to 2010
this tells the story of electric.power in the US and the history of the related utility companies. it describes the success and failures of utility companies. I found it to.be very interesting and recommend it.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Bala
- 10-31-21
Excellent Evolutionary Discourse on US Utilities
Excellent analysis of a very complex history and evolution of the US utility enterprise. Gives a very clear economical and historical perspective of the interaction of the complex free market enterprise, bipartisan political regulatory framework and the leaders who have shaped the utility infrastructure. Without a clear understanding of these forces the transition to decarbonization of electrical utility infrastructure is not easy in US. The author gives a lucid analysis without any bias. Great read and Joe Barrett narration makes it lively. Highly recommend it to those interested in energy transition, power industry professionals and entrepreneurs entering power sectors that touches utility operating practices.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Kindle Customer FB
- 01-30-24
Excellent narrative history of the US electricity sector
I learned a lot about the history of the US electricity sector starting with Samuel Insull. This is a good summary of the key issues, presenting the key arguments of all sides without apparent bias. It doesn’t go much into technical details but I felt there were no major distortions/signification. Will be of interest for people involved professionally in the sector seeking some historical perspective. Narrator is quite good on the Audible version.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Amazon Customer
- 01-08-24
The government-utility thesis.
This is pertinent to the electricity markets today. It wasn't complete, but it was full of high level stories.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Philo
- 10-29-18
Big chunks of the story -like several short novels
This is nothing like a comprehensive history. But the pieces are interesting in themselves. It is another USA tale of entrepreneurs (often with flamboyant or otherwise very distinctive personalities) laying in segments of infrastructure and government mixes into it with major legislation or interventions at points. So, as in other lines of business, we wind up with an odd and quirky patchwork that grew up idiosyncratically, of private and public controls.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Seis man
- 04-20-21
Tough subject matter
This is a good book dealing with a tough subject matter. It’s easy to get mad at all of the people discussed in the book when you look at it with hindsight.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- N. Pappas
- 09-24-15
Interesting narrative of a complex industry
Would you consider the audio edition of The Power Brokers to be better than the print version?
Narration felt a bit folksly given the serious, non-fiction subject matter. I thought the forced accents were a bit much. Also, while I'm sure it's clear in the visual presentation, there are several sections (i.e. the intro chapter) where the narrative structure is unclear.
What other book might you compare The Power Brokers to and why?
Some of the early chapters share some overlap with The Age of Edison, while some others overlap with The Quest. I have not read anything else with this type of longitudinal review of the electric industry.
What aspect of Joe Barrett’s performance would you have changed?
I am not sure the narrator was the best choice for this book. In particular, I would not have recommended assuming the presumed accents of the individuals quoted from in the book.
Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?
Some of the early chapters, particularly those discussing struggles versus public and private utilities, felt particularly subjective. There was much focus on the political and legal tensions of the era with relatively little discussion of the technical aspects of the industry, the societal impacts of electrification, or many other facets which I believe would have been interesting. I thought Mr. Lambert made the right decision in developing the narrative around specific figures in the electric industry, though the character development was not sufficient for me to shed a tear when [spoiler alert] Sam Insull was extradited nor when Ken Lay had a heart attack. I was closest to shedding a tear following the failure of the federal cap and trade legislation.
Any additional comments?
It is clear that Mr. Lambert has had significant experience and engagement in the industry. I appreciate his efforts in sharing some of his perspectives and experience as (I presume) an energy attorney in this book. It was an interesting perspective and many of the issues present in the book are echoed in utility regulation today.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!