The System: Who Rigged It, How We Fix It
by Robert B. Reich
View on GoodreadsSocialism for the rich and harsh market discipline for everyone else: that's how Robert Reich describes an economy where four decades of concentrated wealth have pushed the country close to oligarchy. If you've been told the system rewards merit, his answer is that wealth and power now reinforce each other, and democracy can't survive inequality this extreme.
Core ideas
- Three shifts since 1980: Shareholder capitalism displaced the stakeholder model, unions declined as corporations consolidated, and finance was deregulated.
- Where the gains went: By his account the top 1 percent more than doubled their income share, while the bottom 90 percent gained little.
- A cross-class fix: Campaign-finance reform, stronger antitrust and stronger labor protections only come if working- and middle-class Americans push for them together.
Published2020
Pages224
ISBN9780525659044
ReadAug 2024
