How to Make a Million Dollars an Hour - by Les Leopold (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

Top hedge fund managers make more than Oprah, Rupert Murdoch, and A-Rod combined--but they aren't running news and entertainment empires or playing baseball for the New York Yankees. Aren't you curious about how these hedge fund dudes make so much doing who knows what? You may even wonder if you can get there, too. After all, this is America!

This book gives you the answers in a twelve-step guide to accumulating vast riches the way hedge fund managers do--by playing trillion-dollar poker with a marked deck. Through each easy step, you'll learn the sleight of hand and disregard for basic morality you'll need to move from making tens of dollars an hour to millions an hour! Along the way, you'll also question whether these hedge fund moguls make markets work better--as they and their apologists insist--or cause instability, siphon off capital, and destroy value without adding so much as a single widget to the economy.

• Takes a fascinating tour of the wild side of fantasy finance to explain just how hedge fund managers make so much money--and whether or not the million-an-hour crowd produces anything positive for society and the economy
• Teaches you hedge fund secrets that make it possible to pull down astounding sums in the space of minutes--from rigging your bets to milking millions in special tax breaks--if you're willing to bankrupt your morality for the cash
• Counters many of the most common arguments about why speculating in financial markets is somehow "worth more" than creating entertainment, electronics, or consumer goods that consumers want
• Written by Les Leopold, the popular AlterNet writer and author of The Looting of America

From the Back Cover

Praise for "The Looting of America"

"A cogent, clear, and compelling explanation of how Wall Street's Big Casino wrecked the economy. I might not agree with all of his provocative proposals, but so what? This book is a fun read, despite the sickening scenario it describes."
--Jonathan Alter, senior editor and columnist at "Newsweek"

"An insightful analysis of how we got 'hit.' It is packed with data and background information and explores the pros and cons of the options before us, from those 'Wall Street won't like' to those 'Wall Street really won't like.'"
--John Perkins, author of "Confessions of an Economic Hit Man"

"Les Leopold has performed a virtuoso service by explaining the economic mess in terms that ordinary people can grasp, in this wonderful and terrifying book."
--Robert Kuttner, coeditor of "The American Prospect"

"A welcome parry to the mass media refrain that only the most highly trained Wall Street professionals can comprehend these financial instruments."
"--Library Journal"

"Les Leopold's account of the economic crisis is the clearest and most accessible that I have seen. It gives a reader with little economics or financial background a riveting description of how Wall Street tore down our economy and what we can do about it. It's a page-turner we all should read."
--Leo Gerard, international president of the United Steelworkers

"I loved this book. A worm's-eye dissection of the Wall Street crisis from a very sharp and very knowledgeable labor economist. Here's hoping that before the Washington consensus gets set in stone, policymakers will read it and reflect on the havoc the masters of the universe have wreaked on ordinary people."
--Charles Morris, author of "The Trillion Dollar Meltdown"

"Les Leopold tells the story of our economic collapse so clearly, so broadly, so stylishly I didn't get lost; in fact, to my great surprise, I kept going and going like Hansel and Gretel through the thick forest of mortgage finance, credit swaps, bubbles, and bailouts. The Looting of America is a guided tour for people who wonder if the ups and downs of a free market are inevitable, or if we can't make a few changes for a smoother ride."
--Robert Krulwich, cohost of NPR's "Radio Lab"

Review Quotes

"Les Leopold's latest masterpiece . . . is necessary, alarming and really funny. His talent for deconstructing complex financial terms and topics constitutes a public service. What he reveals in How to Make a Million Dollars an Hour, in a sardonic and appropriately irreverent tone, is something more ominous." --Nomi Prins, Truthdig.com

About the Author

LES LEOPOLD is the executive director of the Labor Institute and Public Health Institute in New York and one of the most popular writers for the progressive website AlterNet. He is also the author of "The Looting of America: How Wall Street's Game of Fantasy Finance Destroyed Our Jobs, Pensions, and Prosperity--and What We Can Do about It."