When Mckinsey Comes to Town
by Walt Bogdanich, Michael Forsythe · first published 2022
71% recommend29% neutral
Why HN recommends it
Investigative account of McKinsey's influence on governments and companies, covering cases like the NHS, the opioid crisis and South Africa; readers find it an easy
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
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…counter arguments, see Branko Milanović Global inequality: A New Approach for the Age of Globalization, James Kwak Economism: Bad Economics and the Rise of Inequality, Walt Bogdanich & Michael Forsythe When McKinsey Comes to Town: The Hidden Influence of the World's Most Powerful Consulting Firm, and many other books.
on “Who died and left the US $7B?” ↗For a more detailed recount of McKinsey adventures (including their involvements in South Africa and with the opioid crisis), check out the book "When McKinsey Comes to Town" by Walt Bogdanich and Michael Forsythe.
on “Have McKinsey and its consulting rivals got too big?” ↗…creating as many negative externalities as possible in the name of feeding the beast that Milton Friedman created with his rhetoric about the primacy of the shareholder. A good read on this topic is "When McKinsey Comes to Town" by Forsyth and Bogdanich. There's a whole chapter dedicated to the South African bribery scandal. Sagar was not just a bad apple -- the company itself is the rot.
on “McKinsey unit will pay $123M to settle claims it bribed South African officials” ↗If you're from UK, you should read the book "When Mckinsey Comes to Town[0]", it has a chapter on how it fucked up NHS. [0] - https://www.amazon.com/When-McKinsey-Comes-Town-Consulting/d...
on “Pentagon to terminate $5.1B in IT contracts with Accenture, Deloitte” ↗When McKinsey Comes to Town - The Hidden Influence of the World's Most Powerful Consulting Firm. By Walt Bogdanich and Michael Forsythe https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/634029/when-mckinse...
on “Book recommendations from Hacker News?” ↗Finished "When McKinsey Comes to Town" recently. A nice easy read, haunting and funny. It really goes to town on how the McKinsey consultants working in government and private sector will work both angles to get a favourable outcome to ensure…
on “Ask HN: Any interesting books you have read lately?” ↗I found about "Lying for Money" on your website a few months ago when you posted your CPU thing. Thanks that was totally worth a read. I recommend you "When Mckinsey comes to town" (the book) in a similar vein, that was entertaining in human mischief as well.
on “Show HN: How did YOUR computer reach my server?” ↗I'm currently reading through "When McKinsey Comes to Town" in the same vein. I recommend it!
on “KPMG Fined Record $25M in Exam-Cheating Scandal” ↗Highly recommend reading “When McKinsey Comes to Town” for a close look at decade after decade of malfeasance. https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/634029/when-mckinse...
on “McKinsey Under Criminal Investigation over Opioid-Related Consulting” ↗McKinsey is a deeply unethical company that has skirted meaningful accountability over the last few decades. I highly recommend reading When McKinsey Comes To Town [1] - it really opened my eyes to how hypocritical and self-serving the culture is at the firm. Maybe a small aside..but it’s very interesting how we as a society took very little learnings from the…
on “McKinsey and Company to pay $650M for role in opioid crisis” ↗…climbing executive at Starbucks tried to get promoted and tightened up hours. The second wave of late night coffee shop deaths occured with COVID and homelessness (really McKinsey and Purdue opioids, read "When McKinsey Comes to Town") because of safety. No one, big or small, can offer a space and decide which hipster can stay and which has to leave because he is now addicted to drugs and not just Instagram dopamine. The solution:…
on “Yemeni Coffee Shops in Texas” ↗I always like to recommend the book When McKinsey Comes to Town in any post about Management Consulting
on “Pentagon to terminate $5.1B in IT contracts with Accenture, Deloitte” ↗> They all work with restructuring companies!! So, I hope that tells you how smart they are :-) "When McKinsey Comes to Town" is an interesting read that covers a lot of this. It's worse than I thought.
on “Intel CEO Letter to Employees” ↗>Any sane person can see that these aren't in the same universe of things. "When McKinsey Comes to Town: The Hidden Influence of the World's Most Powerful Consulting Firm" (Walt Bogdanich, Michael Forsythe ) https://www.amazon.com/When-McKinsey-Comes-Town-Consulting/d... ad hominem rhetoric means one…
on “BambuStudio has been violating PrusaSlicer AGPL license since their fork” ↗Somewhat related: The book When McKinsey Comes to Town: The Hidden Influence of the World's Most Powerful Consulting Firm (by Walt Bogdanich and Michael Forsythe) exposes the short-sighted, amoral, and insidious way the firm often operates and advises. There…
on “State Farm won't renew 72,000 insurance policies in California” ↗