Of Politics & Economics: The School of Hard Knocks and Gentle Persuasion

＂Why have American policymaking and political institutions weakened? Well, let me offer my one-word explanation for this phenomenon: ’Corruption.’＂

This book has all the makings of a modern-day thriller: politics, partisanship, kickbacks, fraud, quid pro quos, and, you guessed it-corruption. All based on historical and public events commented on and analyzed by author Steven I. Platt during his long and storied career as a judge and mediator.

From the bowels of politics, corruption, and partisanship, Of Politics and Economics: The School of Hard Knocks & Gentle Persuasion is a well-chosen collection of Judge Platt’s significant and timeless writings on the state of politics and its intersection with law and economics. For 13 years, Judge Platt shared his opinion publicly and unapologetically in a popular column published in The Daily Record in Baltimore and in the judge’s own blog, ＂A Pursuit of Justice: The Intersection of Law, Economics, and Politics.＂

Written by a self-proclaimed ＂political junkie,＂ who spent more than 20 years feeding the political machine, then another 30 years serving on the Bench of the Maryland Judiciary, Judge Platt has witnessed, presided over, and commented on incidents involving local, state, and federal political figures who have found themselves on the wrong side of the law and societal values.

Contents include:

Chapter 1: Is Politics Corrupt? Stay Tuned to Your Supreme Court Station
Chapter 2: Corruption May Explain the Previously Unexplainable
Chapter 3: Corruption Precipitates Crisis in Confidence
Chapter 4: What’s Wrong with Our Broken Political Process?
Chapter 5: Loss of Public Trust and Confidence Caused by Corruption
Chapter 6: Destructive Partisanship March Can Be Halted
Chapter 7: Midnight in Paris for Politicians
Chapter 8: Trump-Speak vs. Candidate-Speak
Chapter 9: Political Choices Should Be Reality-Based and Checked
Chapter 10: Politics as Theater
Chapter 11: President of the United States - A Job Description
Chapter 12: The Political Art of Holding Your Tongue and Thinking Your Piece
Chapter 13: Political Judgment Is Not Science - It’s About People
Chapter 14: Political Theater Need Not Be Children’s Theater
Chapter 15: The Act of Governance - What Matters
Chapter 16: How Will Candidates Govern? The Most Important Question Not Easily Answered
Chapter 17: How Do We Spot Leaders?
Chapter 18: The Great Risk Shift
Chapter 19: The Politics of the Shift of Economic Risk
Chapter 20: Corporate Networks, Power, and Money Precipitate Crisis of the Old Order
Chapter 21: Planning for Justice After the Revolution
Chapter 22: Responsibility and Accountability in the Criminal Justice System: A Challenge
Chapter 23: New Era for International Courts and the United States