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A Time for Truth
by William E. Simon (Foreword: Friedrich A. Von Hayek) (Preface: Milton Friedman)
Product Group: Book
Publisher: Reader's Digest Association (1978-01)
ISBN: 0070573786
EAN: 9780070573789
Hardcover: 264 pages
SKU: 04663
Condition: Used: Good
Comments: Book in good condition
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Customer Reviews
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Prophetic Reminder of what "Conservative" Used to Mean
Rating  (4)
Date: 2006-03-03
5 out of 6 customers found this reveiw helpful
First of all, I must issue a disclaimer that I have belonged and do belong to the group of people who identify themselves as 'liberals'. I must also say that although I disagree with most of Simon's overall general observations about liberalism itself, I do agree with some of his observations of liberals in particular. However, I mostly I admire the late William Simon himself, and this conservative treatise as being sincerely candid and, indeed, prophetic. (Also, Edith Efron, Simon's ghostwriter, must be credited with the book's elegant cadence.)
In fact, I recommend shaking off some of the dust from the pages of this old, yellowed paperback especially to Republicans who today, in the estimation of this reviewer, have lost touch with the conservative heritage of their party. In short, I write this review as much paying homage as a member of Simon's loyal opposition.
Although in 'A Time For Truth', copyrighted 1978, Simon clearly displayed his partisan credentials, he also left no illusion that if Republicans were ever to take control of the government, they may very well create in their own image the very centralized absolutist state which Simon believed had been established by the Democrats of his era.
Simon greatly feared seemingly "uncontrollable" spending and national debt. He regarded deficit spending on his own watch during the Nixon administration as an experiment gone horribly wrong, from which he learned a profound lesson. As Nixon's Secretary of Treasury, he actually took responsibility (the forgotten virtue of conservatives) for the government's failed energy policies, which are ironically usually attributed to Carter, who actually inherited the crisis.
Simon's self-admitted angry tone in 'A Time For Truth' was in reaction to a growing national debt, and its accompanying bureaucracy, which as of 12/31/1980, at the end of Jimmy Carter's term, according to the Bureau of Public Debt (which they rounded off to millions) was a total $930,210,000,000.00 -- or $930.2 billion. What would have been Simon's reaction to the public debt on 12/30/1988, at the end of Ronald Reagan's term, of $2,602,337,712,041.16 -- or $2.6 trillion? Or on 12/30/1992, at the end of George H.W. Bush's term, a sum of $4,064,620,655,521.66 -- or $4 trillion? Would Simon issue the same outrage at the government, under Reagan's watch, more than doubling the national debt, and under Reagan and Bush cumulatively more than quadrupling the debt? Reagan had a readily-available explanation for this: Congress, still under control of the democrats.
What then would Simon say about the national debt under George W. Bush, who presides during a republican-controlled congress? As of 9/28/2001, the debt was $5,807,463,412,200.06 -- or $5.8 trillion and has grown to $8,269,768,312,946.41 -- over $8 trillion, in the month of this writing, 3/01/2006 ?
Of course, the 'War on Terror' will be among the top explanations given by republicans today. However Simon did not leave the impression that this would be an acceptable excuse. Besides the total defense budget for fiscal year 2006 being $419.3 billion; a comparatively small portion of the total debt of over $2.6 trillion, Simon repudiated any increased spending without cutting other expenses or raising taxes to pay for that spending.
One interesting feature of this book is an early mention and even a definition for "neo-conservative". Simon saw them as among the allies of true conservatives, though he saw "neo-conservatives" as too interventionist. It is perhaps telling that on pg. 118 Simon described an exchange with then chief of staff, Donald Rumsfeld, who accused Simon of "betraying" Ford for criticizing his budget of $51.9 billion as "horrendous." One would be tempted to wonder what Simon, being a staunch fiscal conservative who despised and feared spiraling government spending and abyssmal deficits, would say today to the heritors of his party. However, in 'A Time For Truth' Simon himself indeed issued such dire warnings:
"The only thing that can save the Republican Party, in fact, a counterintelligensia. Without such a reservoir of antiauthoritarian scholarship on which to draw, it is destined to remain the Stupid Party and to die. It may even deserve to die. A political party which declares itself philosophically committed to freedom but allows an economic dictatorship to emerge in the United States without stirring up the fiercest political donnybrook in American history has asked for the oblivion to which it is presently being consigned." --pg. 255
For its time this book must have indeed seemed like an unexpected breath of fresh air issued from the unlikely source of a figure who served under Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford. Today 'A Time For Truth' seems as much a badge of honor for conservatives as an albatross for the Republican Party.
It is an irony that in 2002 and again in 2003 William E. Simon, Jr. ran, though unsuccessfully, as the republican candidate for Governor of California during another energy crisis, finally throwing his grudging support behind another republican.
Now a national debt of under a trillion dollars seems like 'The Good 'Ole Days'. It seems to this reviewer that, though Simon's observations about spending policies of Democrats in the 1970s were indeed relevant, the same observations also apply to today's Republicans, if not more relevantly. Simon was a devotee of Adam Smith and the 'invisible hand' of the free market (historically the quarter of liberalism.) Simon warned of government subsidies and tax examptions for corporations, but instead insisted that only a competitive market would produce wealth. As William E. Simon seemed to prefer simple principles and over-arching abstractions over micromanagement and minutiae, I think it is appropriate to add that, in my view, Simon's warnings simply confirm the old adage that power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.
William E. Simon died in June of 2000. Between this and his time of public service under Nixon/Ford, true to the conscience of a sincere human being, he was privately active as a member of the Order of the Knights of Malta as a philanthropist and volunteer in service of terminally ill and destitute patients.
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Good Book By William Simon!
Rating  (5)
Date: 2003-03-07
2 out of 4 customers found this reveiw helpful
When you begin reading this book it turns into an interesting
read. The book is authored by William Simon who served as the
Secretary of the Treasury under Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford. Simon relates to you his beliefs and philosphies about the free market system.Simon had done well with this system
becoming mega wealthy.Simon attempts sucessfully to warn the
American peopleabout the unbreakable connection between economic
and political freedom.He warns that the expanding state is taking these freedoms away. A very interesting read by a very
wise man. Read this book. You will like it.
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Remembering Mr. Simon....he was a formidable intellect....
Rating (5)
Date: 2000-06-11
6 out of 9 customers found this reveiw helpful
With the passing of Mr. Simon I was reminded of his book, A TIME FOR TRUTH. I read this great book 20 years ago while picking up what was remaining of my horrific beginning foray in college and working full-time in the vaults of Morgan Guaranty (J.P. Morgan).I credit Mr. Simon's book with helping to turn my life around and giving me the paternal leadership I was lacking. It's a marvelous book about how our illustrious and bellicose Congress of the United States dupes the American public with it's tax and spend policies and offers us a chance to reaquaint ourselves with our great founding principles. Without principles we are nothing... In 1986 while in the USMCR I had the privilege of meeting Mr. Simon while pulling guard duty at a MC Scholarship Fund dinner. I was thrilled. My sincere sympathies go out to his family.
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Outstanding overview of economics
Rating (5)
Date: 2000-06-04
5 out of 8 customers found this reveiw helpful
A must-read for anyone concerned not just about our country's economic future, but about personal freedom as well. Easy to read, trenchant, and incisive. William E. Simon comes across as one of our nation's greatest (and most overlooked) thinkers.
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A real eye-opener.
Rating (5)
Date: 2000-03-01
5 out of 7 customers found this reveiw helpful
The effect of central government planning is shocking. William Simon's foresight is excellent as we now sit with a post-cold war Russia. A strong recommend if you care at all about taxes. The current socialist movement in America should be stopped short.
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