an amazing portrait of human nature and the heroes and villains and the conflict in that both are just like the real people who are moving the world for better and for worse today and who is john galt was asked over and over again in that book and we didn't find out until the end. turns out that john galt was the man responsible for putting the world into decline. how did he do it? by getting all the smart people to go on strike. that is something we haven't tried in this world. in a real-world the smart people keep working on a matter what. >> host: is there a john galt today? >> guest: in the book we identify real people with various ayn rand characters with john galt and when we attach to john galt is the ceo of bb and tee, john ellison who built bbn tee into the tenth largest bank in the united states and all in one of two in addition need

t.a.r.p. funding. for americans who live outside the south may be an unknown name but a 1 market share bank in the district of columbia and the tenth largest bank in the u.s. by assets. this one man did it and he did it by getting every single employee right down to the tellers to read "atlas shrugged". he is like john galt because john galt went on strike. he took his mind off the market in protest of a corrupt world. john ellis and retired when the federal government came to him in 2008 and said you don't need to pay hughes money so we will force you to take t.a.r.p. money. we are taking over your bank and the rest of the banks so he walked out and said enough. >> host: who are some of the villains first of all in "atlas shrugged" and how do you fit them into your book? >> guest: a lot of ayn rand fans

remember falsely that "atlas shrugged" was all about the ones who were people in government. regulators. politicians. that is true. but the worst villain in "atlas shrugged" with a corrupt businessman who worked hand in hand with corrupt business corrupt politicians in an unholy alliance that crashed the economy. the corrupt businessman just about brought the whole world economy down in 2008 was angela mozilla of country wide finance. this was the man who invented sub prime lending. another key villain in "atlas shrugged" was a government figure. a super financial planner regulator whose character was wesleyan. -- wesley mooch. we like him to barney frank who was the godfather of fannie mae and freddie mac.

the two of them, mozilla in the private sector and frank and the public sector with this unholy alliance that allowed countrywide and people who profited by imitating countrywide to create loans people could never repay. why would you do that? they turned around and sold those to the federal government. how was that made possible? by barney frank for fannie and freddie in the name of all kinds of high-minded altruistic social benefits. housing for everybody and put 4 people in to mcmansions they can't afford. that is the world of "atlas shrugged". the world we barely survived in the financial crisis and still struggling to come out of. >> host: what do you do for a living? >> investment advisor for other investment advisers. >> host: what does that mean? >> i give strategic advice on stock market and currency market and commodity market and other investment managers who serve -- hedge fund managers and the

like. >> host: in your work how much government regulation is in what you do? >> very little in what i do because i don't actually handle the money. my clients who do collectively manage $15 trillion are so regulated they can't pick up the phone without filling out a form. that is the business i used to be in. i am now in a poor man's firm that gets the influence of $2 trillion without being regulated. >> host: what is it about ayn rand that attracts such a strong reaction? >> guest: there's a great moral clarity to her point of view. it is a romantic philosophy that draws many young people. world where the good guys are very passionate plea for a little creative, focused, empowered people who know where they are and go out in the world to do the things they want to

do. in the face of john galt he wanted to shut down the world to rebuild it. that was his passion. young people trying to discover themselves and understand what is their role in life and what role models do i have ayn rand's book, fountainhead and "atlas shrugged" are disclosing amazing role models. business people and artists and architects and bankers and lawyers and doctors all of whom followed this philosophy of extreme individualism. she was a controversial character. she loved tweaking people. she called it individualism but she also called selfishness because she knew that the word nobody would like. there was a controversial word. wanted to read in your face and if you could accept selfishness. she could talk you into that then individualism would go down really big. >> host: you talk about ayn rand. people venues morality when they

talk about her. >> guest: that is the philosophy of determining the difference between right and wrong. some people believe the only way to get morality is through religion. ayn rand was an atheist. one answer of why is she a polarizing character is she was an atheist at a time in american life when it wasn't acceptable to be an atheist. she was kind of an outcast and it was believed at the time that if you did get your morality from the bible you haven't got any morality. she said you can get it from reason and experience. there is a wonderful character named hank written in "atlas shrugged" who runs a steel mill and he says there's no more moral place in the world and a steel mill because you know exactly what is right and exactly what is wrong and if you do what is wrong with the 500 tons of them melting 500 tons of steel you will die. you can't be moral in a steel mill. doesn't have anything to do with

the bible. >> host: in "i am john galt" you draw parallels between hand written and bill gates. why? >> host: >> guest: he created a new kind of metals that was lighter than aluminum but stronger than steel. that product was so competitive and disruptive to the status quo that the unholy alliance of corrupt businessman and corrupt officials conspired to put him out of business the same way people could compete with microsoft windows conspired to put bill gates out of business in the 1990s. don't tell yourself that was just some do-gooder action by some holier than thou bureaucratic washington. they were paid off by people in silicon valley. >> host: there is a little taste of donald luskin's "i am john galt," building the world as

villainous parasites destroy it. this is booktv on c-span2. >> recently at freedom fest in las vegas booktv interviewed john goodman author of priceless. in the book the author argues we need to open up the health-care system to market forces and remove the incentives that are driving up costs and making the system less efficient. >> this is the cover of john goodman's newest book called priceless:during the health care crisis. booktv is on location at freedom fest in las vegas. dr. john goodman joins us now to talk about priceless. let's talk about the recent supreme court decision on the health care bill. what is your view? >> i was sorry to see that decision. i wish we could start over and

have a more rational health care reform. now we have to deal with the law as it is. i think even the supporters of the law are going to want to make major changes in the next year and a half. >> what do you want to see? what do you see as rational health care? >> guest: what we have in the obamacare what is a requirement that you and i buy an insurance plan at twice the rate of growth of our income. you don't have to be an accountant to know that if you're paying for something that is increasing, will crowd out everything else you are consuming and eventually will have nothing to lead and nothing to wear no place to live but what of health-care. that is an impossible task. >> host: your group the national center in cp a is one of the founders of health savings accounts. correct? what are they? >> guest: