Nasty Business

Archie McLachlan
PublishAmerica (2005
ISBN 1424102332
Reviewed by Joanne Benham for Reader Views (4/06)

If you are a middle-class or poor person trying to start a business, you know the frustration of trying to get operating capital. The bank won't loan you any money unless you have money, in which case you wouldn't need to borrow any. As silly as this sounds, it's the way of life in the world today. In his book, Nasty Business, Archie McLachlan takes you behind the scenes of the banking industry and exposes a lot of nasty little secrets they'd rather not have brought to light.

He claims that the bankers rule the world and goes on to give you case after case to prove his point. He probes into politics, once again opening up doors the political machine would rather keep closed. Next he tackles organized crime, again exposing the inner workings of crime syndicates around the world. The media come under scrutiny as well as car manufacturers, drug companies, the tobacco industry and lawyers.

When I read the section on what happens to the poor guy who tries to patent his invention, I was dumbfounded.

But not only does Mr. McLachlan expose the criminals and their crimes, he offers sage advice for dealing with them. Not a petty fine and a slap on the wrist. Mr. McLachlan wants the punishment to fit the crime. One suggestion is that if a person commits a $10 million crime and claims that $9 million is already gone, the crook should be jailed for a minimum of five years, with one year added for every $1 million not returned. So if he returns $6 million, he would still serve nine years for the remaining $4 million. And then to put the matter into perspective, he reminds us that someone caught robbing a store of $100.00 will typically get a sentence of three years.

This book in a fascinating look at the real world.....sometimes a little depressing because so much of what he says has been proven to be true every day in our lives, but still a must read. I read it in one evening, staying up way past my bedtime to finish it.

The only downside to this book is that it needs some serious proofreading to clean it up, but the contents of the book itself make this a minor inconvenience.

Make comment on weblog