I Love Capitalism!: An American Story

It was an excellent book but it does, perhaps unintentionally, show what is wrong with Boards of Directors. Bob Nardelli was CEO of The Home Depot for 7 years and while sales doubled, the stock was essentially flat, while employee morale was low. What point is a BOD of they are not overseeing how the CEO is running the company. It should not having taken 7 years to realize they were off the track and get rid of a CEO.

It was a very interesting read and shows that with hard work and perseverance you can be successful.

Dreadful read. I, I, I, me, me, me. Tough schoolboy language. Stories that have no relevance to the rest of the world. Not a pleasant read nor will you get ANYTHING that will help you understand how to build a business or run one. I skimmed much of this book finding small gems hidden in the mud. Shame on the publishers for letting this book go to press as is! No wonder Millennials are pulling hard left and backing Bernie and the rest. (The antidote to this mess is Conscious Capitalism by Whole Foods CEO John Mackie. So much more valuable info there and more uplifting about the current state of Capitalism and how it can help more people than Socialism ever did/will!!)

It's hard not to love Ken Langone. His pugnacious style and sense of honor pervade this somewhat skimpy account of his life. He's funny. He expresses gratitude to his long-time driver and long-time assistant within the first couple of sentences and tells a slew of appreciative stories about store level workers at Home Depot (which he co-founded). Langone likes being rich and acknowledges it beats poverty. By board membership and huge donations, he has been a driving force in imprving the quality of medicine at NYU.

Langone doesn't really make the case, however, that capitalism is what caused his success. One suspects he'd be at the top in any economic system. Though his accounts of his exploits are entertaining, they don't have a ton of depth. Cherrypicking seems likely; one wonders less polished and praiseworthy details left out. His defense of the pay package of Richard Grasso is far too defensive and he gives himself too much credit for the downfall of Elliot Spitzer. Finally, while he gives lip-service to certain downsides of the capitalist system, he doesn't spend much time addressing them. But he really, really wants you to do as well as he has

Langone's "acknowledgements," although extensive, conspicuously omit his white privilege, for if he were Black or Hispanic or any other race, he would have worked "for" a man like Ken Longone, a billionaire who would gorge himself on cheap wages and Chinese slave imports. A true Deplorable.

Capitalism has virtually nothing to do with the content of this book. The review I read of it in the WSJ bears no resemblance to the actual book.

Speaking of content, did an editor even read this thing? The writing is poor, disjointed, more of a raw transcript of a series of random thoughts spoken into a recorder.

Me, me, me, me, me... The false modesty at times.

The prolific profanity! Unnecessary, unhelpful and ruins any sense of credibility for me regarding any points he is poorly trying to make. Makes a big deal of how he is an observant Catholic, grew up a Catholic, and then spews the profanity.

Don't waste your time and money. At least I got my copy from the local library.

Easy read but didn’t get insights was more like a story. This was a little disappointing against my expectations. I thought I’d learn more about the ways American exceptionalism. Good read but wouldn’t re read this book

Langone's "acknowledgements," although extensive, conspicuously omit his white privilege, for if he were Black or Hispanic or any other race, he would have worked "for" a man like Ken Longone, a billionaire who would gorge himself on cheap wages and Chinese slave imports. A true Deplorable.