After nearly 20 years of predicting economic disaster, Batra
\t\t (Greenspan's Fraud, etc.) suggests a
\t\t reversal, though only after we rise up in revolution against the forces of
\t\t chaos. This time, he charges politicians, academics, business executives and
\t\t rich people with "corruption," defined as "any policy that enriches the rich
\t\t and impoverishes the poor and the middle class." Among the practices Batra
\t\t censures are raising congressional pay but not the minimum wage, and cutting
\t\t income taxes while increasing Social Security taxes. Though the analysis is
\t\t keen and provocative and the conclusions unorthodox as ever, his specific
\t\t economic predictions aren't likely to be any better than those in his 11
\t\t previous books. Though he admits that "three or four" of his previous
\t\t predictions "have been wrong," and "the cycle of depression has misfired," he
\t\t gives no specifics. His examples of successful predictions sidestep his
\t\t previous books, citing anecdotes from unrecorded private conversations. Some
\t\t readers might wish Batra would stick to analysis and exposition, at which he
\t\t excels, and leave off the name-calling and the wild predictions that mar this
\t\t effort. (Feb.)
