The is an excellent, easy to read book that should be required reading for all high school students. I'm really surprised that this book doesn't seem to be getting more notice in the media. I'm a political junkie, subscribe to 8 political journals, and in the process read a lot of economics. My political views were more socialist when I graduated from college, but got more moderate as I kept doing my homework. When I got done reading this book, it gave me a full belief in the superiority of the capitalistic system, and I voted Republican for the first time in my life. In the book, the author goes through all of the most pertienent economic issues, comparing and contrasting the American and European Systems, and does an incredible job showing the superiority of the American one.

This book shatters any doubt that a free-market system is far superior to government regulations when it comes to maintaining a healthy economy. Capitalists will admire the level of precision with which Gersemann destroys the arguments of those opposed to the American system of capitalism.

Detractors who favor the European system (at least those with the intellectual ability to do so) will concede to the error of this thinking. The book is comprised of short narratives followed up by indepth explanations with which the author incessantly debunks myth after myth of the European view of American capitalism ranging from second jobs to taxation.

Gersemann's writing will appeal to both the economic layman and the economic scholar. The layman will be endowed with a newfound knowledge of economics while the economist will be delighted with the statistical analysis that will challenge the wits of the most overeducated of peers.

As great as all this is, I must mention the absolute icing on the cake of this fine book. Cowboy Capitalism will surely prove a means of holding accountable those politicians who, destructively as one must conclude after reading this book, seek to transform our system of free market into a mirror of European government intervention.

Comfortable social capitalists' economy isn't working;
More comfortable capitalists are unemployed;
and citizens in the old world enjoy fewer economic freedoms.

Once and for all, see a new book with intelligent and understandble comparisons between old world countries of France, Germany and Italy with the USA written by an author knowledgeable of the Old World.

Find out what propels old world beliefs of superiority. Myth is all, always was, always will be, unless the USA drops its ball, too.

Every person, old and young, every senator and congress man and woman, every legislative representative, every single person in the executive branch of the U.S. government and those in France, Germany and Italy need to read this book by Olaf Gersemann.

German reporter Olaf Gersemann examines common misperceptions of the American economy in Cowboy Capitalism, providing a survey of the continental econ-omies of Europe versus the United States and examining common myths and realities on both sides of the world. His survey reveals a variety of myths many Europeans believe about Americans and their economy, discussing the realities underlying the rumors. An excellent survey most valuable for its expose of European common sentiments about the U.S.

"This is a comprehensive, indeed truly encyclopedic, comparison of economic conditions and policies in the United States with those in Germany, France, and Italy. Gersemann, a German journalist based in the United States, provides detailed evidence to support his devastating rejection of common European fallacies about the American economy. A real treasure trove of thoughtful analysis."

--Milton Friedman, Nobel Laureate in Economics

"Citizens in all Western democracies want to provide more publicly financed welfare than they are willing, privately, to finance by taxes. The result is sluggish economies. In Old Europe the crisis is more acute than in the United States. This book documents the dramatic differences and stresses the proclivity of Europeans to denigrate the American experience rather than to acknowledge their own plight."

--James M. Buchanan, Nobel Laureate in Economics

"Gersemann pulls no punches in debunking prevalent European myths about the American economy. But Cowboy Capitalism is not about trumpeting American superiority; it's about helping Western European countries achieve the robust growth and job creation their citizens deserve."

--Henry M. Paulson, Jr, Chairman and CEO, Goldman Sachs Group

"This book offers an excellent comparison of U.S. capitalism with the 'social' model of Germany, France, and Italy. It is also a penetrating study of anti-market propaganda. Olaf Gersemann shows that the features of the American model that are attacked most by European critics from both left and right are those which continental Europe actually needs in order to overcome the social problem of high unemployment and to make the European economy more dynamic and competitive. The book displays a rare combination of clarity, passion, and moderation. I highly recommend that this book be widely read on both sides of the Atlantic."

--Leszek Balcerowicz, Former Finance Minister of Poland

"Gersemann combines the accuracy and incisiveness of a scholar with the verve and wit of the best kind of journalist. His readers will be fascinated from the beginning and enlightened by the end."

--Steven Landsburg, author of The Armchair Economist