The Age of Selfishness (Ayn Rand, Morality, and the Financial Crisis) - Darryl Cunningham, 2015

I lived for 18 months in the US and was surprised by how frequently right-wing libertarian author Ayn Rand's books would pop up on bookshelves or in conversation. Her most popular novels, The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged, illustrated her philosophy of selfishness as a virtue and altruism as a moral failing. Darryl Cunningham here explains her influence on neoliberal politics and the current global economic crisis.

The book is divided into 3 sections: a biographical account of Rand's life, the events leading to the 2008 economic crisis, and the state of play towards the end of the Obama presidency.

Rand cuts a paranoid and controlling figure. Her first book was made into a film in 1949 but was a critical failure. Nevertheless, she received thousands of fan letters and soon developed a tight clique of obedient followers, one of whom was Alan Greenspan. The book's mid-section starts at the end of the Great Depression and the passing of the Glass-Steagall Act (1933) which separated retail from investment banking.

Greenspan re-enters the picture in 1987 when President Reagan appoints him as chairman of the Federal Reserve. The book sags a bit in the last section in discussing the pros and cons of the 'liberal' and 'conservative' mindset and defending the many flaws in Obama's Affordable Care Act but comes good in outlining the threat of UKIP and the Tea Party movement. At the time of writing Trump and Boris Johnson would not have been on the radar.

Cunningham's text is very readable and his artwork, while fairly simple, adds mood to the story and helps explain the key concepts well.