Saving Capitalism
For the Many, Not the Few
New York : Alfred A. Knopf, [2015]
Format: Book
Edition: First edition.
Description: xvii, 279 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm
From the author of Aftershock and The Work of Nations , his most important book to date--a myth-shattering breakdown of how the economic system that helped make America so strong is now failing us, and what it will take to fix it.
Perhaps no one is better acquainted with the intersection of economics and politics than Robert B. Reich, and now he reveals how power and influence have created a new American oligarchy, a shrinking middle class, and the greatest income inequality and wealth disparity in eighty years. He makes clear how centrally problematic our veneration of the "free market" is, and how it has masked the power of moneyed interests to tilt the market to their benefit.
Reich exposes the falsehoods that have been bolstered by the corruption of our democracy by huge corporations and the revolving door between Washington and Wall Street: that all workers are paid what they're "worth," that a higher minimum wage equals fewer jobs, and that corporations must serve shareholders before employees. He shows that the critical choices ahead are not about the size of government but about who government is for: that we must choose not between a free market and "big" government but between a market organized for broadly based prosperity and one designed to deliver the most gains to the top. Ever the pragmatist, ever the optimist, Reich sees hope for reversing our slide toward inequality and diminished opportunity when we shore up the countervailing power of everyone else.
Passionate yet practical, sweeping yet exactingly argued, Saving Capitalism is a revelatory indictment of our economic status quo and an empowering call to civic action.
Perhaps no one is better acquainted with the intersection of economics and politics than Robert B. Reich, and now he reveals how power and influence have created a new American oligarchy, a shrinking middle class, and the greatest income inequality and wealth disparity in eighty years. He makes clear how centrally problematic our veneration of the "free market" is, and how it has masked the power of moneyed interests to tilt the market to their benefit.
Reich exposes the falsehoods that have been bolstered by the corruption of our democracy by huge corporations and the revolving door between Washington and Wall Street: that all workers are paid what they're "worth," that a higher minimum wage equals fewer jobs, and that corporations must serve shareholders before employees. He shows that the critical choices ahead are not about the size of government but about who government is for: that we must choose not between a free market and "big" government but between a market organized for broadly based prosperity and one designed to deliver the most gains to the top. Ever the pragmatist, ever the optimist, Reich sees hope for reversing our slide toward inequality and diminished opportunity when we shore up the countervailing power of everyone else.
Passionate yet practical, sweeping yet exactingly argued, Saving Capitalism is a revelatory indictment of our economic status quo and an empowering call to civic action.
Contents:
The free market. The prevailing view ; The five building blocks of capitalism ; Freedom and power ; The new property ; The new monopoly ; The new contracts ; The new bankruptcy ; The enforcement mechanism ; Summary : the market mechanism as a whole -- Work and worth. The meritocratic myth ; The hidden mechanism of CEO pay ; The subterfuge of Wall Street pay ; The declining bargaining power of the middle ; The rise of the working poor ; The rise of the non-working rich -- Coutervailing power. Reprise ; The threat to capitalism ; The decline of countervailing power ; Restoring countervailing power ; Ending upward distribution ; Reinventing the corporation ; When robots take over ; The citizen's bequest ; New rules.
Subjects:
Capitalism -- United States.
Democracy -- Economic aspects -- United States.
Income distribution -- United States.
Capitalism.
Democracy -- Economic aspects.
Income distribution.
United States.
Capitalism -- United States.
Democracy -- Economic aspects -- United States.
Income distribution -- United States.
Capitalism.
Democracy -- Economic aspects.
Income distribution.
United States.
ISBN:
9780385350570
Availability | |||
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Call Number | Location | Shelf Location | Status |
BUSINESS Economics Rei | Ballentine Indoors | Nonfiction | In |
BUSINESS Economics Rei | Sandhills Indoors | Nonfiction | In |
Includes bibliographical references (pages [223]263) and index.