What can we learn about the state of capitalism from the books below? with AI (Deepseek/Grok) views and notebooklm discussion.
capitalism’s Challenges and Future Reform Paths
What can we learn about the state of capitalism from the books below? “Capitalism’s Achilles Heel: Dirty Money and How to Renew the Free-Market System’ by Raymond W. Baker. (Is it too late, with the Covid, Ukraine and Climate Crises, combined with unrealistic expectations and the possibility of Trump re-incarnation? bl). Also relevant “Bailout Nation: How greed and easy money corrupted wall street and shook the world economy” by Barry Ritholtz, (Includes quote of Charles Darwin: ‘Ignorance more frequently begets confidence than does knowledge,’ – too true – unfortunately! bl); “The Natural Advantage of Nations: Business Opportunities, innovation and Governance in the 21st Century” Edited by Karlson ‘Charlie’ Hargroves & Michael H. Smith. Alternatively “The Greatest Crash: How contradictory policies are sinking the global economy” by David Kauders : – the author quotes (p145) “In his book The Collapse of Complex Societies, Joseph Tainter showed how the sudden end of the Mayan and other civilisations could be explained by the declining marginal return on investment in complexity. Sophisticated societies continually add to their complexity, since early growth phases bring greatly increased benefits from more complexity. But complexity becomes a machine with a life of its own, and once the marginal return falls below its cost, then society is steadily undermined. Thus the theoretical aligns with the practical; more regulation is self destructive.” (This is a serious challenge, creating a trend that only benefits lawyers! But it is particularly problematic in an overdeveloped financial economy where there is a endless – and ultimately self-defeating? - race between abuse and regulation, bl); ”The Economics of Enough: How to run the economy as if the Future Matters” by Diane Coyle. And “The Trouble with Markets: Saving Capitalism from Itself” by Roger Bootle; “The Genius of the Beast: A Radical Re-Vision of Capitalism” by Howard Bloom; “This Time is Different: Eight Centuries of Financial Folly” by Carmen M. Reinhart & Kenneth S. Rogoff; “Inside Job: The Financiers who pulled off the heist of the Century” by Charles Ferguson; “Profit or People? The New Social Role of Money” by James Robertson; “The Creation and Destruction of Value: The Globalization Cycle” by Harold James; “The Great Deformation: The Corruption of Capitalism in America” by David A. Stockman (2013); “Breakout Nations: In Pursuit of the Next Economic Miracles” by Ruchir Sharma; “Post-Capitalist Society” by Peter F. Ducker; “Losing Control; The Emerging Threats to Western Prosperity”; “Making Capitalism Work” by Leonard Silk and Mark Silk; and “When the Money Runs Out: The End of Western Affluence” by Stephen D. King; “Sun Tzu: The Art of War for Executives, by Donald G. Krause; “Twenty-First Century Capitalism” by Robert Heilbroner; “The Spectre at the Feast: Capitalist Crisis and the Politics of Recession” by Andrew Gamble; “Religion and the Rise of Capitalism” by R.H. Tawney; “Creative Capitalism” Essays by Bill Gates, Warren Buffett and others, edited by Michael Kinsley; “Conscious Capitalism: Liberating the Heroic Spirit of Business” by John Mackaey and Raj Sisodia; “Too Big To Fail: Inside the Battle to Save Wall Street” by Andrew Ross Sorkin and “Catching the Wolf of Wall Street: More Incredible True Stories of Fortunes, Schemes, Parties, and Prison” by Jordan Belfort: p439 - ‘I can only blame my greed-greed for power, greed for money, greed for recognition. I have a lot of explaining to do to my children one day, and hopefully they’ll learn from my mistakes” (A very readable – and horrifying – story, bl); Also “The 86 Biggest Lies on Wall Street” by John R. Talbott. “The Impossible Dream. The Equity Funding Story: The Fraud of the Century” by Ronald L. Soble and Robert E. Dallas (And what a story! bl); “The Secondary Banking Crisis, 1973-75: The Inside Story of Britain’s Biggestt Banking Upheaval” by Margaret Reid;“Success through Failure: the paradox of design” by Henry Petroski (Important issue, but no serious discussion of the key role of learning, bl); “Limits to Privatization: How to Avoid Too Much of a Good thing” Edited by Ernst Ulrich Von Weizs?cker, Oran R. Young, Matthias Finger with Marianne Beisheim; The Cost of Capitalism: Understanding Market Mayhem and Stabilizing our Economic Future” by Robert J. Barbera (2009); “The Real Wealth of Nations: Creating a Caring Economics” by Riane Eisler (2007) - “We stand at an evolutionary cross-roads in our human adventure on this Earth” (Even more badly needed today and it is unlikely that we are moving in a positive direction, bl);”Keys to prosperity: free market, sound money and a bit of luck” by Rudi Dornbusch; “The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid: Eradicating Poverty through Profits – Enabling Dignity and Choice Through Markets” by C. K. Prahalad; “A Spiritual Audit of Corporate America: Spirituality, Religion, and Values in the Workplace” by Ian I. Mitroff; “Capitalism as if the World Matters” by Jonathan Porritt (2005); (Part II: A Framework for Sustainable Capitalism, full of commonsense but who is listening? bl); Being smart was somewhat de-valued by revelations in: “The Smartest Guys in the Room: The Amazing Rise and Scandalous Fall of Enron” by Peter Elkind and Bethany McLean (2004). The Reckoning: Financial Accountability and the Making and Breaking of Nations” by Jacob Soll; “Slater Walker: An investigation of a financial phenomenon” by Charles Raw; “Bankrupt: The BCCI Fraud: The Financial Scandal of the Century” by Nick Kochan & Bob Whittington; and BCCI: The Inside Story of the Wold’s Most Corrupt Financial Empire” by Peter Truell and Larry Gurwin; “Con Game: Bernard Madoff and His Victims” by Lionel S. Lewis; “Madoff: Corruption, Deceit, and the Making of the World’s Most Notorious Ponzi Scheme” by Peter Sander; and “Bernie Madoff:The Wizard of Lies. Inside the Infamous $65 billion Swindle”, by Diana B. Henriques; “The Lever of Riches: Technological Creativity and Economic Progress” by Joel Mokyr; “The Runaway Species: How Human Creativity Remakes the World” by Anthony Brandt & David Eagleman (But the words learning, values, or wisdom, merited a mention in the index, bl); “Modern Capitalism: The Changing Balance of Public & Private Power” by Andrew Shonfield (first published 1965). As well as “The Story of Modern Financial Insanity” by Michael Lewis; “Hedge Funds: The Courtesans of Capitalism” by Peter Temple; “The Collapse of Barings: Panic, Ignorance and Greed” by Stephen Fay; “Trust from Socrates to Spin” by Kieron O’Hara; “A Question of Trust: The BbC Reith Lectures 2002” by Onora O’Neill; “Becoming a Trustworthy Leader: Psychology and Practice” by Aneil K. Mishra and Karen E. Mishra; “Trust: The Social Virtues and the Creation of Prosperity” by Francis Fukuyama;“Profits of Deceit: Dispatches from the Front Lines of Fraud” by Patricia Franklin; “Money Rush” by Andrew Duncan and “Bent Coppers: The Inside Story of Scotland Yard’s Battle against Police Corruption” by Graeme Mclagan”; “Circle of Greed: The Spectacular Rise and Fall of the Lawyer Who Brought Corporate America to its Knees” by Patrick Dillon and Carl M. Cannon (Another extraordinary story that deserves to be more widely read! bl); “The Wealth of Knowledge: Intellectual Capital and the Twenty-First Organization” by Thomas A. Stewart; “Knowledges: What Different Peoples Make of the World” by Peter Worsley; “Rentier Capitalism: Disorganised Development and Social Injustice in Pakistan” by Shahid Ahmed; “Meaning Inc: The Blueprint for business success in the 21stcentury” by Gurnek Bains, with Klie Bains; “The Future of the World Economy” A United Nations Study by Wassily Leontief et al (1978); “Earth in the balance: Forging a New Common Purpose” by Al Gore; “The Little BIG Number: How GDP came to rule the world and what to do about it” by Dirk Philipsen; Other relevant sceptical books on the future of capitalism, include: “Living in the Corporate Zoo: Life and work in 2010” by Richard Scase; “Beyond Machavelli: Tools for Coping with Conflict” by Roger Fisher, Elizabeth Kopelman and Andrea Kupfer Schneider; “False Dawn: The Delusions of Global Capitalism” by John Gray; “Compassionate Conservatism: What it is - Why we need it” by Jesse Norman and Janan Ganesh; “Responsible Capitalism: Essays on Morality, Ethics and Business”, Edited by Sir Patrick Cormack and Rupert Goodman. And “The Cancer Stage of Capitalism: From Crisis to Cure” by John McMurtry; “Tribal Business School: Lessons in Business Survival and success from the ultimate Survivors” by Jo Owen; “Standing on the Sun: How the Explosion of Capitalism abroad will change Business Everywhere” by Christopher Meyer with Julia Kirby; “The Price of Fish: A New Approach to Wicked Economics and better decisions” by Michael Mainelli and Iamn Harris;“The Age of Heretics” by Art Kleiner; “Greed and Glory on Wall Street: The Fall of the House of Lehman” by Ken Auletta; Capitalism & Socialism: A History of Industrial Growth” by John Vaizey. Also “The Great Unravelling: The Truth about Crony Capitalism from the Man who can Prove it” by Paul Krugman. A serious discussion of ethical issues are the focus of ‘The Principle of Duty’ by David Selbourne. Also in “being Good: A short introduction to ethics” by Simon Blackburn; “Doing Good Better: A Radical New Way to Make a Difference” by William Macaskill (Co-founder of the Effective Altruism movement) (If only, bl); “Cultivating Conscience: How Good Laws Make Good People” by Lynn Stout (Good People also Make Good Laws, although some of them think that if you have good people you don’t need laws. Unfortunately, even when you have 95% good people, you still need laws to try to control – change?- the behaviour of the other 5%, bl) and “Giving Voice to Values: How to Speak Your Mind When you Know What’s Right” by Mary C. Gentile. (But the big issue is what happens if you have two people who have different view as to ‘What’s right’? bl) Two contrasting approaches are covered in “Ferraris for all: In defence of economic progress, by Daniel Ben-Ami (2010) and “The monk who sold his Ferrari” by Robin S. Sharma (1997) – quotes Gandhi “When I admire the wonder of a sunset or the beauty of the moon, my soul expands in worship of the Creator” and, on the final page: “For what lies behind you and what lies in front of you matters little when compared to what lies within you.” (The challenge is to reconcile the two approaches, bl) An example of the stresses and struggles at the top revealed in the extraordinary story of the journey from President to Whistleblower at Olympus, “Exposure: Silenced, Threatened, Time to fight back.” by Michael Woodford. Another revelation is “The Last of the Imperious Rich: Lehman Brothers 1844-2008. More personal perspectives are covered in: “Stop the World: Finding a Way through the Pressures of Life” by Murray Watts and Professor Cary L. Cooper; “Fuzzy Thinking” by Bart Kosko; “The Support Economy: Why Corporations are Failing Individuals and the Next Episode of Capitalism” by Shashana Zuboff and James Maxmin; (Published in 2002 - Too little, too late? Needs revisiting? bl): “Management Gurus and Management Fashions” by Brad Jackson; “Managerial Catalyst: the Story of London Business School 1964-1989” by William Barnes; “A History of Knowledge: Past, Present and Future. The pivotal events, people and achievements of world history” by Charles Van Doren; “Mobilzing Minds: Creating Wealth from talent in the 21st –century Organization” by Lowell L. Bryan and Claudian I. Joyce; “Butterfly Economics” by Paul Ormerod; “Against the Flow” by Samuel Brittan; “Machiavelli: A Very Short Introduction” by Quentin Skinner; “Shakespeare and Management” by Charles Margerison and Barry Smith; “Offshore: The Dark Side of the Global Economy” by William Brittain-Catlin; “The Competitive Advantage of Nations” by Michael E. Porter; “The Collapse of the American Management My$tique” by Robert R. Locke; “How they Blew it: The CEOs and Entrepreneurs Behind some of the World’s Most Catastrophic Business Failures” by Jamie Oliver & Tony Goodwin; “All That Glitters: The Fall of Barings” by John Gapper & Nicholas Denton; “The Land that Never Was: Sir Gregor MacGregor and the most audacious fraud in History” by David Sinclair (Extraordinary story- worthy of a film or TV series! bl) “Tarzan and Jane: How to Thrive in the New Corporate Jungle” by Margot Katz; “Chasing Rainbows: How the Green Agenda Defeats its Aims” by Tim Worstall; “Life after Growth: How the global economy really works – and why 200 years of growth are ever” by Tim Morgan; “Jihad vs. McWorld: Terrorism’s Challenge to Democracy” by Benjamin R. Barber (2003); “A Critical History of Economics” by John Mills; “The Human Face of Corporate Governance” by Lynn McGregor; “Out of Poverty: What works when traditional approaches fail” by Paul Polak; “Capitalism Today and Capitalism Tomorrow” by Ilya Stavinsky; (Incredibly difficult to manage changes in this area because it challenges so many powerful/financial vested interests. bl); “Infectious Greed: How Deceit and Risk Corrupted Financial Markets” by Frank Partnoy; (The big picture horrors of a greed-driven culture and dubious or illegal corporate finance and accounting, that allowed individuals to behave irresponsibly for too long, bl). Particularly relevant (more scandals): “Bernie Madoff: The Wizard of Lies: Inside the Infamous $65 billion Swindle”, by Diana B. Henriques; (Unbelievable! bl); “The Art of the Steal: Inside the Sotheby’s-Christie’s Aunction House Scandal” by Christopher Mason; “A Little Pot of Money: The Story of Reginald Maudling and the Real Estate Fund of America” by Michael Gillard; “As Game As Old As Empire: The Secret World of Econic Hit men and the Web of Global Corruption” Edited by Steven Hiatt; “Dirty Dealing: The Untold Truth about Global Money Laundering, International Crime and Terrorism” by Peter Lilly “The Calvi Affair: Death of a Banker” by Larry Gurwin; “Power on Earth: Michele Sindonas Explosive Story” by Nick Tosches; “Empire: The Life, Legend and Madness of Howard Hughes” by Donald L. Barlett and James B. Steele, (A massive, extraordinary, sad and sobering, story! bl); Fraudbusters: The Inside Story of the Serious Fraud Office by Mark Killick; “Grand Corruption” by George Moody-Stuart; “The Crimes of Patriots: A True Tale of Dope, Dirty Money, and the CIA” by Jonathan Kwitny; “Plutocrats: The Rise of the New Global Super Rich and the Fall of Everything Else” by Chrystia Freeland; “Richi$tan: A Journey through the 21st Century Wealth Boom and the Lives of the New Rich” by Robert Frank; “The Super-Rich Shall Inherit the Earth: The New Global Oligarchs and How they’re Taking Over Our World”, by Stephen Armstrong; “The Social Atom: Why the Rich get Richer, Cheats get Caught and your Neighbor Usually Looks Like You” by Mark Buchanan; “Pity the Billionaire: The Hard-Times Swindle and the Unlikely Comeback of the Right” by Thomas Frank; “Corruption, Global Security, and World order” by Robert I. Rotberg; “Broke: Who Killed the Middle Classes?” by David Boyle; “Reaction: Against the modern world” by Peter King; and (more historic) “Society Scandals” Edited by Harriet Bridgeman &Elizabeth Drury. Also “Report on Wealth Creation and Social Cohesion in a Free Society”, The Commission on Wealth Creation & Social Cohesion (1995); “The Shadow World: Inside the Global Arms trade” by Andrew Feinstein; “measuring social value: the gap between policy and practice” by Claudia Wood and Daniel Leighton, Demos; ‘Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything’ by Steven D. Levitt & Stephen J. Dubner (Full of challenging questions, about human motivation and contemporary living that need to be (re-) asked? bl). Motivation is also a key element in ‘A Sense of Urgency’ by John P. Kotter, “He also highlights the insidious nature of its nemesis – complacency – in all its guises”. Also relevant ‘Spiritual Capital: Wealth we can live by’ by Danah Zohar; “Voyages of the Heart: Living an Emotionally Creative Life” by James. R. Averill & Elma P. Nunley; “Everything is Obvious: *Once you know the answer: How Common Sense Fails” by Duncan J. Watts; “Complicated Lives: Sophisticated consumers, intricate lifestyles, simple solutions” by Michael Willmott & William Nelson; “Conservatism in an Age of Revolution” by Robert Blake, paper for The Conservative Philosophy Group (1976) and Ian Marshall (Explores two scenarios: ‘One will consume our ever-diminishing resources, the other places value on the human race and the planet itself’. Note ‘spiritual’ overlaps closely with the Latin word ‘sapientia’ (Greek ‘sophia’) meaning ‘Wisdom’, bl);“Need, Greed or Freedom: Business Changes & Personal Choices,” by John Whitmore (Readable and relevant, bl);”The RICH: A new study of the species” by William Davis; “The Paradox of Prosperity” A report for the Salvation Army; and “The Commercialization of Intimate Life: Notes from Home and Work,” by Arlie Russell Hochschild (a more thoroughly academic approach, bl). Books with a more UK focus include: “Who Runs this Place? The Anatomy of Britain in the 21st Century” by Anthony Sampson (2004), (The prolific and insightful author, bl); “Elites and Power in British Society” Edited by Philip Stanworth and Anthony Gidden; “The Age of Entitlement” by David Willetts, Social Market Foundation; “The Silent State: Secrets, Surveillance and the Myth of British Democracy” by Heather Brooke; “The British Disease” by G. Allen; “Bankrupt Britain: An atlas of social change” by Daniel Dorling and Bethan Thomas (2010; “Britain on the Couch: Treating a Low Serotonin Society – Why we’re unhappier than we were in the 1950s – despite being richer” by Oliver James. (Insightful and worth reading, but surprisingly little coverage of the ‘happiness’ literature, bl); “The Future of Capitalism: How today’s economic forces will shape tomorrow’s world” by Lester Thurow;
Thought for 23 seconds
Okay, so I need to figure out what we can learn about the state of capitalism from all these books. Let me start by going through the list and seeing the common themes. The user provided a lot of titles, so maybe grouping them into categories would help.
First, there are books about financial crises and scandals like "Bailout Nation," "Inside Job," and several on Madoff and Enron. These probably highlight systemic risks, greed, and regulatory failures. Then there are works on sustainability and ethics, like "The Natural Advantage of Nations" and "Conscious Capitalism," which might discuss how capitalism needs to integrate environmental and social values.
Some books like "The Collapse of Complex Societies" and "The Greatest Crash" talk about complexity and declining returns, suggesting that over-regulation or too much complexity could undermine capitalism. Others like "The Economics of Enough" and "The Trouble with Markets" argue for reforms to make capitalism more sustainable and equitable.
There's also a focus on inequality and corruption with titles like "Plutocrats" and "The Great Deformation." These likely point out issues with wealth concentration and crony capitalism. Plus, historical perspectives from books like "This Time is Different" show recurring patterns of financial folly, implying that capitalism has inherent cyclical issues.
Books on trust and ethics, such as "Trust: The Social Virtues and the Creation of Prosperity" by Fukuyama, might emphasize the role of social capital. Meanwhile, critiques like "The Cancer Stage of Capitalism" suggest more radical changes are needed, possibly moving beyond capitalism.
I should also consider the user's own comments, like mentions of the COVID-19 pandemic, Ukraine, climate crises, and political factors like Trump. These contemporary issues intersect with the themes in the books, indicating that capitalism is under stress from multiple fronts.
Putting this all together, the state of capitalism seems to be at a critical juncture. The books collectively argue that while capitalism drives innovation and growth, it's plagued by systemic issues like inequality, corruption, environmental degradation, and regulatory challenges. There's a tension between the need for reform to address these issues and the resistance from entrenched interests. The solution might involve a mix of stricter regulation, ethical business practices, rethinking economic metrics beyond GDP, and possibly transitioning to a more sustainable and equitable model. However, the recurring financial scandals and crises suggest that without significant structural changes, capitalism may continue to face instability and public distrust.
The extensive list of books provided offers a multifaceted critique and analysis of capitalism, revealing both its enduring strengths and systemic vulnerabilities. Here’s a synthesized assessment of the state of capitalism, drawing on the themes and arguments presented:
1. Systemic Vulnerabilities and Crises
2. Ethical Erosion and Corruption
3. Inequality and Social Fragmentation
4. Environmental and Sustainability Challenges
5. Calls for Reform and Alternatives
6. Historical and Cultural Context
7. Contemporary Pressures
Conclusion: Capitalism at a Crossroads
The books collectively portray capitalism as a system in existential flux. Its strengths—innovation, wealth generation, and adaptability—are undermined by systemic risks, ethical decay, and ecological disregard. The path forward likely requires:
Without such changes, capitalism risks perpetuating cycles of crisis and decline. Yet, as?The Genius of the Beast?and?Breakout Nations?suggest, its capacity for reinvention offers hope—if stakeholders confront its flaws with urgency and creativity.
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Your question asks what we can learn about the state of capitalism from an extensive list of books spanning decades, perspectives, and critiques. Rather than attempting to summarize each of the 100+ titles individually—an impractical task within a concise response—I’ll distill key themes that emerge across these works, reflecting on capitalism’s evolution, challenges, and potential trajectories. I’ll also address your parenthetical concerns (e.g., Covid, Ukraine, climate crises, Trump’s potential return, and regulatory complexity) by weaving them into the broader analysis.
Key Themes on the State of Capitalism
Relevance to Today (2025): Post-Covid economic recovery, exacerbated by supply chain disruptions and war in Ukraine, has strained markets further. Rising inequality and climate-related costs amplify perceptions that capitalism prioritizes profit over people, fueling debates about whether it’s "too late" to reform.
Your Concern: The "trend that only benefits lawyers" reflects this regulatory spiral, which, combined with crises like climate change, challenges capitalism’s adaptability. Trump’s potential return could deepen this by favoring deregulation, possibly accelerating short-term gains but long-term instability.
Post-2020 Context: Covid exposed supply chain fragilities, Ukraine disrupted energy markets, and climate crises demand costly transitions. These overlapping shocks test whether capitalism can adapt fast enough or if "unrealistic expectations" (e.g., endless growth) doom it.
Your Note: The Darwin quote from Ritholtz ("Ignorance begets confidence") and Eisler’s "evolutionary crossroads" suggest a need for wisdom over hubris—yet crises like Ukraine and climate change show decision-making still lags behind.
Trump Factor: His potential "re-incarnation" could amplify this, favoring tax cuts for the wealthy and deregulation, deepening inequality—a trend these books warn against.
Today’s Lens: Climate innovation (e.g., green tech) offers hope, but geopolitical tensions (Ukraine) and pandemic fallout suggest capitalism’s adaptability is stretched thin.
Synthesis: Is It Too Late?
These books collectively portray capitalism as a dynamic but flawed system—capable of immense wealth creation yet prone to excess, crisis, and moral drift. The crises you mention (Covid, Ukraine, climate) compound existing tensions: financial overreach, regulatory overload, and trust deficits. The "Trump re-incarnation" possibility adds uncertainty—his policies might turbocharge short-term growth but risk long-term instability by ignoring climate and equity.
It’s not necessarily "too late" to renew capitalism, as Baker and others hope, but the window narrows. Books like The Natural Advantage of Nations and The Economics of Enough suggest a pivot to sustainability and moderation is possible, but political will and public expectations (often unrealistic, as you note) lag. Tainter’s declining returns on complexity loom large—capitalism’s "machine with a life of its own" may resist reform until forced by collapse or radical innovation.
Conclusion
From these works, we learn that capitalism’s state is precarious but not terminal. It thrives on adaptation but stumbles on greed, complexity, and short-termism. The crises of 2025 test its limits, and while renewal is feasible, it demands a reckoning with systemic flaws—hardly assured in a polarized, crisis-laden world. The challenge, as many authors imply, is aligning profit with purpose before the costs of inaction outstrip the benefits of reform.
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Capitalism Examined: Crises, Ethics, and Future Paths
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The provided texts consist of an extensive bibliography and commentary reflecting on the state of capitalism through numerous lenses. These sources encompass analyses of financial crises, ethical failures, the consequences of unchecked greed, and the increasing complexity within economic systems. Furthermore, they explore themes of inequality, sustainability, the role of trust, and potential future trajectories for capitalism in light of historical patterns and contemporary global challenges. The collection represents a broad intellectual inquiry into the strengths, weaknesses, and possible evolution of modern capitalism.
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