How the rich use access to money during fiscal crises to control the nation’s politicians.
Author Lynne Weikart is available for radio, television and print interviews on how the fiscal elite use access to capital to undermine the voters’ will. She puts a human face on each of New York City’s fiscal crises, analyzes their historical patterns, and compares the tenure of several mayors. This timely book, Follow the Money: Who Controls New York City Mayors, has become an invaluable book for those interested in the future of American cities during the nation’s severe financial crisis.
Through the history of politics, Weikart reveals how financial elites in New York City have exploited recurring fiscal crises and sharply curtailed the range of choices open to mayors in setting priorities and implementing budget choices. In the face of enormous pressure during a fiscal crisis to defer programs and compromise promises to constituents, however, committed mayors from Fiorello LaGuardia to Michael Bloomberg have at times managed to overcome obstacles and achieve their goals.
Weikart writes: “As the world center of financial services, New York City is an informative case study of the power that financial elites exert over the political leadership and how mayors can push back to assert their own political agendas. In the final analysis, although some mayors do achieve their own policy initiatives, their choices are significantly limited by these powers of the financial interests particularly during times of fiscal crisis.”
This book is available through SUNY Press.
See http://www.sunypress.edu/details.asp?id=61778
For more information contact Lynne Weikart
By Phone: 917-494-3231
By Email: lweikart@gmail.com
To read her current thoughts on the fiscal crises go to:
http://www.followthemoneyus.com/