THEFIXBOOKSTORE.COM

THEFIXBOOKSTORE.COM

The Fix is part of the intellectual property known as Capitalism Version 2.0" created by Clinton E. Lovell.  Clint and his wife Marilynn live in Houston, Texas.  Clint is the Managing Principal of Rainmaker Marketing Corporation, Inc., a Houston-based consulting firm that specializes in the development, due diligence and capital finance for senior housing property development programs and other commercial income-producing property development programs throughout North America and the Caribbean basin (www.rainmakermarketing.com).

Clint wrote The Fix in July of 2009 and spent August rewriting the book before doing the final editing in September and October.  Clint will be commencing work on the follow-on book pertaining to the comprehensive overhaul of the commercial banking system and capital markets once The Fix achieves commercial success and the conditions precedent required to sustain Capitalism Version 2.0 and launch the New Economy are in fact realized.

As stated in the book, Clint is a fairly bright fellow who has been blessed with a gift of special intellect that he has been able to apply for the benefit of economics, such as it is.  Clint's interest in economics really started in 2005 with his original effort The Fix for Social Security that he developed as a solution for the Social Security funding crisis that bubbled up after President George W. Bush decided he would use some of his "political capital" to take on the legendary "third rail of politics".  The entirety of Clint's interest in the matter started as a result of a series of political debates he had with Marilynn on this very subject.  The keystone event was (believe it or not) Marilynn's assertion that, "You could fix this mess if you would put your mind to it."  

There it was in black and white.  

The challenge had been issued and, in the fullness of time, Clint became increasingly convinced the "wizards of Washington" had it all wrong; there would be a way to fix Social Security.  The solution would be a structured finance solution, as the political solutions were impractical or impossible - those being massive tax increases, massive benefit cuts or both.  Clint realized the solution had to be one that didn't include any cuts or any tax increases, as the politicians wouldn't stand for it, so the original solution provided a complete workout of all deficits and didn't require an increase in taxes or a cut in benefits.

Then reality hit.

Clint shared his findings with his closest associates (and partners in crime) who were (and still are) as interested as Clint in fixing Social Security and all of our entitlement programs.  George Ashford, Jonathan Kross and Mike Scherer tirelessly worked to move the ball forward with Congress and the White House.  It was a truly Herculean effort to bring this information to the attention of our great political leaders, but the joke was all on us.  

Nobody in the House of Representatives was interested in really fixing Social Security; not a single member of the House (according to their staffers) was interested in this issue (including both Republicans and Democrats).

Nobody in the U.S. Senate was interested in really fixing Social Security; not a single member of the Senate (according to their staffers) was interested in this issue (including both Republicans and Democrats).  

Nobody in the White House was interested in really fixing Social Security; not a single senior staffer at the White House was interested in hearing about a real solution.  Despite the press releases of the White House, Mr. Rove, et. al. were not interested in hearing about what could actually be done.

The reality was the "players" on both sides of the political aisle really weren't interested in fixing Social Security, per se; they were interested in continuing to be our rulers and fixing Social Security didn't serve the needs of the political class in any way that Congress or the White House valued.

Evidently, the Beltway insiders dismissed the team as a bunch of kooks and continued to generate sound bites for the media.  Lots of ink was applied to the Social Security problem in 2005 and 2006, but nothing was ever resolved (and if you read The Fix you will know why).

This was a tremendous letdown and Clint shelved the project as he sought the means for fixing monetary policy that he was becoming more and more convinced to be part of a much larger solution as monetary policy could make or break any macroeconomic issue due to the way our economy is currently structured.  The "new" mantra was that the solution had to extend beyond Social Security and include a total revamp of all entitlement program fiscal policies, a fix for the capital market exchange issues, a solution for the failing commercial banking system and the means for ending taxation.  Clint's thinking was that there had to be toys for everyone, so that it would be acceptable to everyone.

The thinking was that the politicians, insiders and pundits would have to get the message whether the doorbell rang or not.

When the banking crisis started to bubble up in the fall of 2007, Clint began putting some meat on the bones of an entire new concept.  This concept was to change free-market capitalism at a fundamental level in order to access greater benefits to all the stakeholders in the economy this new "system concept" would have to serve.  The idea of a book began to emerge and Clint completed the first draft by the end of September 2007 and began the process of searching for an agent, only to find that his lack of education credentials in economics stood as a barrier.  No agent was willing to take on the task and push the issue forward as the book could not be made ready in time for the coming election cycle.

This was a huge problem.  If Congress wasn't interested and the White House wasn't interested and the publishing industry wasn't interested, this changed the dynamics completely.  It meant the book would have to be marketed directly to the public (eliminating the reliance upon the publishing industry or Beltway insiders to obtain the end-goal).  This meant a total rewrite of the book and the conceptual work had to be undertaken, as the book would only work if it was truly exceptional in every respect.

There had to be something incredibly powerful in the deal for everyone or nobody would want to take the plunge.  Money was a huge issue as Clint's consulting business decelerated rapidly as a result of the looming recession, creating more obstacles.  The odds of success were starting to get long and there was still the core issue of having to be able to eliminate taxation from the economy, as Clint was certain the taxation issue would be the new cornerstone that would drive the book forward.

Clint continued work on the program throughout 2008 and finally made a breakthrough in the fall that allowed him to create the necessary conditions precedent to ordering an entirely new approach to capitalism, then his computer was stolen on vacation and the value of computer back-ups was realized.  All the work was gone, but the knowledge was still there.  It just had to be remembered and redone.  Clint stopped work until the summer of this year, when he picked up the issue and wrote the entire 900+ page original text of The Fix in July of 2009.

The rest is history in the making.  Lots of hard work with very little in the way of resources; everything hinged on the interest of accredited investors in participating in the near-term economic opportunity created by the book as there was no practical way to bring this book forward through "traditional" publishing houses.  

Clint was determined to create a whole new market model for literary works to sidestep the publishing industry's stranglehold on the business by providing future writers with a path to success that is not dependent upon the participation of the publishing industry.

If you are a writer seeking to bring forth the next great literary work "out of left field" then this is a business model that offers you an alternative to having to subordinate your works and your ability to profit to the whims of the publishing industry and Clint will be glad to provide you with the means to get started.