The Dead Body on the Floor

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The author worked at GE Capital for two years after he graduated from Columbia Business School in 1987. "I sort of met the ghost of Jack Welch, not the literal, but the metaphorical because I had worked there" The book is about a company that was global and dominant; now it's being sold off or breaks itself off.

General Electric used to be the most valuable company in the world; now it's practically irrelevant. What happened? Today on the show, we're going to find answers. And to help, we're turning to two writers who have followed the saga closely and written about it brilliantly: Malcolm Gladwell and William Cohan.

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• Check out "Power Failure: The Rise and Fall of an American Icon" and subscribe to Bill's newsletter, "Dry Powder"

• Read Malcolm's New Yorker story: "Was Jack Welch the Greatest C.E.O. of His Day—or the Worst?"

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