Book Review: Dark Money and Plutocrats United. It will also make you laugh in a very bitter way when you recall the slogan of the recent Tory conference: "for hard-working people". There are frequent allusions to winner and losers, and the poor and middle class must simply suck it up and deal, because having the ultra-wealthy around is somehow good for the rest of us. I feel a little guilty about rating this even though I didn't finish it but it just didn't work for me, and that is why I stopped. There's a lot of highly skilled and educated doctors, for example, in countries like India and elsewhere. France, proud, as usual, of its exceptionalism, seemed to be the one major Western outlier, but recent studies have shown that over the past decade it, too, has fallen into line.”. As others have mentioned, the first 1/3 or so reads like a Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous and is devoted to explaining the trappings of extreme plutocracy and the ways by which the purseproud rich have bent the machinery of government and the economy to their wills and fortunes. An enchanting plea by the award-winning Nigerian novelist to channel anger about gender inequality into positive change. This article originally appeared on USA Today. But I wanted the author to tie it all together in a coherent thesis that offered a new perspective and did not find it. Not promising. The chapters and subheadings were arbitrary; the book read more like an anthology of short articles on the subject of super-elites. With each success, their economic agenda becomes more … (And for every Schmidt there are a dozen plutocrats who are genuinely baffled that there is even such a thing as welfare, let alone a welfare society.) Plutocrats - The Rise of the New Global Super-rich and the Fall of Everyone Else. They then use their millions (or billions in some cases) for philanthropic purposes, giving back to the society that allowed them to succeed by creating novel solutions based on their business acumen to solve the world’s many ills. Maybe an exaggeration but at times I thought I was reading a serious of news paper items. I wanted to read more about him, but he disappears from the text; instead we hear quite a lot of interesting stuff about the history of super-elitism, its causes and such reversals or checks and balances as exist or existed to shift power back into the hands of the middle classes. For instance, 20% of Americans own 84% of the nation's wealth (compared to 36% in Sweden); in 1970 the top 1% took 10% of the national income, today they take over 30%; in 1980 the average CEO made 42x the wage of the average worker, today they make 390x the wage of their employees; 93% of the gains from the 2009-2010 "recovery" went to the top 1%; the top 25 hedge fund managers are each paid over a billion dollars a year; the richer you are, the lower your effective tax rate--the top 400 tax payers paid less than 17%; inequality in Russia is higher than it was under the czars. If only the AMA (American Medical Association) weren't such a powerful and protectionist lobbying firm. The birth of the Occupy Wall Street protest movement last September helped return America's rising inequality to a dominant place in the public eye. I think it is flawed but interesting, and will be comparing it with other material I'm reading, such as Managed By Markets. Instead, this book is a pretty dense. In fact, she suggests there are two separate economies: one for the richa "plutonomy"and one for the rest of the country. Refresh and try again. There might be hope, insofar that there are people even at the upper echelons of the system who at least pay lip service to the idea of serving the wider community. By Kenny's own testimony, the tissues in his consulting room are regularly moistened by the tears of the staggeringly wealthy as they fret about their wealth. I gave it another chance. Plutocrats The New Golden Age (eBook) : Freeland, Chrystia : In the last few decades what it means to be rich has changed dramatically. Indeed, for many pages, Freeland excitingly glorifies capitalism and its winners. Chrystia Freeland's Plutocrats is more pastiche than polemic. From the cover, I expected this book to be a lightweight documentary version of "Crazy Rich Asians," offering painfully amusing stories about the foibles of the super-rich, accompanied by cautions about the negative effects of such behavior upon the rest of America. When reading through a sampling of the reviews, you see many opinions. This is, at times, a hugely depressing book, and not least among its depressing features are the notes of self-pity from the super-rich themselves. I'm a big advocate of 'free-trade', but it SHOULD mean an exchange of good and services regardless of income strata and lobbying power. Goodreads helps you keep track of books you want to read. Even ancient Rome was more egalitarian than the world today, if by "egalitarian" we mean "not having obscenely differing standards of living". I think it is flawed but interesting, and will be comparing it with other material I'm reading, such as Managed By Markets. Really light weight. Just a moment while we sign you in to your Goodreads account. But that, to use Boris Johnson's description of a £250,000 paycheck, is chicken feed. Today's colossal fortunes are amassed by the diligent toiling of smart, perceptive businessmen who see themselves as deserving victors in a cutthroat international competition. Henry Ford said that mass production required mass consumers. If one measure of wealth, and there are many, is how many of your compatriots you can buy, then give a big hand for magnate Carlos Slim, the interest or return on whose stash is the equivalent of the average annual wage of 400,000 Mexicans. This was his way of saying that his success was dependent on the existence of a successful society. For the past four years, Carlos Slim Helu, the Mexican self-made multi-billionaire, has topped the Forbes Billionaire list, with an estimated net worth of $73 billionaire as of March 31, 2013. The author has clearly been rubbing elbows with her subjects too long. She does include some analysis in the concluding chapters of the reasons for the growing disparity and what it portends for the future of democracy in the world and our nation. I found this book on plutocrats interesting but mostly composed of loosely related vignettes rather than an all-encompassing thesis rigorously defended by its author and what that I had hoped to find. If you were expecting Naomi Klein, you will be disappointed. It's an interesting look at how plutocrats live their lives and how they earn their fortunes, and the impact it has on the rest of us. Goodreads Staffers Share Their Top Three Books of the Year. reviewed by Peter Hogarth Plutocrats shows a clear influence from the Occupy movement and laments the rise of such intense income inequality around the world between the 1% and the 99%. From the cover, I expected this book to be a lightweight documentary version of "Crazy Rich Asians," offering painfully amusing stories about the foibles of the super-rich, accompanied by cautions about the negative effects of such behavior upon the rest of America. In the end I am not sure the awards nor the positive reviews were earned. Today's colossal fortunes are amassed by the diligent toiling of smart, perceptive businessmen who see themselves as deserving victors in a cutthroat international competition. A Financial Times Best Book of the Year Shortlisted for the Lionel Gelber Prize There has always been some gap between rich and poor in this country, but recently what it means to be rich has changed dramatically. Home / November 2020, Opinions / Plutocrats Promote Perversity Plutocrats Promote Perversity By Sidney Secular | 2020-11-24T03:18:50-05:00 November 24th, 2020 | To see what your friends thought of this book, Now that Chrystia Freeland became Canada's minister of Foreign Affairs and that Trump took power, this book is particularly timely to understand what. Chrystia Freeland. We’d love your help. Oh well, c'est la vie, I guess. Some are similar to mine. The bits where the super rich look like creepy nuts in their own words were my favourite bits and why it gets a 4 despite one could always quibble about the political economy of some other bits. I quit after 55 pages of unorganized drivel about how wonderful it is to be a plutocrat. However, Freeland posits few, if any, ideas to reverse the growth of inequality. As others have mentioned, the first 1/3 or so reads like a “Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous” and is devoted to explaining the trappings of extreme plutocracy and the ways by which the purseproud rich have bent the machinery of government and the economy to their wills and fortunes. Reading this book made me anxious as a high-middle class, mid-level management wage slave and a father of two. There are frequent allusions to winner and losers, and the poor and middle class must simply suck it up and deal, because having the ultra-wealthy around is somehow good for the rest of us. (It says something, incidentally, about the state of politics these days that the idea of helping the lower classes has more or less vanished from popular political discourse.) It didn't get any better. If you truly, really genuinely believe that there's nothing wrong with our economy that can't be fixed by rich folks being a little bit less greedy, then you'll want to read this book. I wanted to read this book after seeing the author on "Moyers & Company: Plutocrats might be described as intelligent, highly educated, self-made, go-getters who have worked hard, innovated and successfully built businesses that create jobs, and benefit the economy. In Plutocrats, her book about the rise of the super-wealthy (the "1 per cent" in that awful neo-numerical-logism), Chrystia Freeland – columnist and one-time deputy editor for … Review Explaining the GOP’s mix of plutocrats and populists Jacob S. Hacker and Paul Pierson write that the Republican Party faces a “Conservative Dilemma”: How can a … So we learn about the decline of Venice, once the greatest city on Earth, but which became the decaying museum it largely is these days from the 17th and 18th centuries on, thanks (says Freeland) to the Libro d'Oro, the Book of Gold, which permanently defined which families were entitled to be in the nobility, and therefore the oligarchy. Interesting. Charles Murray did an incredible job of covering this and analyzing from the perspectives of American culture splitting along class and education lines to the point that we're a pair of de facto separate societies. A lot of reporting and some very interesting anecdotes, although an even deeper analysis at times on why/how it all happened would've been helpful (she gets into that too, and I generally agree with the analysis, I just wanted even more details). Topics: Free Speech & Election Law: Sponsors: Free Speech & Election Law Practice Group: Federalist Society Review. Depressing. Book Review: "Plutocrats" Examines Rise of the Super Rich. Book Summary A journalist and industry specialist for Reuters examines the growing disparity between the rich and the poor, taking a non-partisan … So, sadly, a very necessary book. It also means she is listened to by these people, and they talk to her unguardedly. Counter that with the despair that a cold-eyed analysis of the situation brings and you may come away with the notion that the day of the western middle class is over, however much Eric Schmidt, the executive chairman of Google, wrings his hands about it. I've started a Group called "1% in American History" for discussions of this type of material. In fact, she suggests there are two separate economies: one for the rich—a "plutonomy"—and one for the rest of the country. ... Review: 'Plutocrats details rise of super-rich. I think he also understood that gains made by adding value to society will lift the boats of everyone for the most part. Plutocrats: The Rise of the New Global Super-Rich and the Fall of Everyone Else by Chrystia Freeland, Chrystia Freeland is the Global Editor-at-Large of Reuters news since March 1, 2010, having formerly been the United States managing editor at the, “Americans were happy to celebrate their super-rich and, at least sometimes, worry about their poor. Dear 1%ers, many of our fellow citizens are starting to believe that capitalism itself is the problem. These are tough times for those who like the idea of an egalitarian society. I read many of the reviews of this book, and while I have no doubt that experts in labour economics, the financial crisis and those who study of capitalism may disagree with some of what Freeland has written, for the average jane it provides a readable in-depth understanding of why the income divide is happening and why (most of) the plutocrats don't understand why the 99% might have a bit of a problem with their wealth generation. Anybody want to discuss Chrystia Freeland's book, Plutocrats? Less usefully, but perhaps inevitably, Plutocrats offers up tidbits of voyeuristic gossip, as Freeland name-drops her elbow-rubbing and panel-facilitation with the ultra-rich in places such as Davos, Sun Valley, and Aspen. She makes a distinction between the richest 1% and the richest 0.1% because there is a large discrepancy between these two groups that is less frequently noticed than the one between the top 1% and bottom 99%. I quit after 55 pages of unorganized drivel about how wonderful it is to be a plutocrat. Miles Report No. Hamish McRae @TheIndyBusiness. You can find descriptions of what's in the book and analyses of contents elsewhere- I realize she's a journalist and, I suppose, is following her instincts and her training to be 'fair and balanced' in her approach but: My low rating for this book is based on two things: the misalignment between the author's outlook and mine, and the way the author organized the information. I enjoyed how Freeland offered both historical context and took repeated stabs at defining the psycho-social fallout of towering wealth built on dwindling resources and the consumerism of the creaking middle classes. First, readers need to understand one thing: the cover, the name, and the back of the book are a marketing gimmick. When a capitalist quotes Marx, as Freeland does, it's a bad sign. Start by marking “Plutocrats: The Rise of the New Global Super Rich and the Fall of Everyone Else” as Want to Read: Error rating book. Indeed, for many pages, Freeland excitingly glorifies capitalism and its winners. . These individuals are compensated well, but fairly, for their achievements. Herein Freeland analyzes and interviews the upper echelons of the top 1% and, though it's never really clear if she views this group as bad, good, a mixture, or what, it is a very important book for understanding today's society. You will find some important information in respect to the growing income and wealth disparity in America and the world. Plutocrats: The Rise of the New Global Super Rich and the Fall of Everyone Else. Still, it’s modestly worthwhile in itself, and it has the additional benefit that it sheds light on today. Yes, the growth in technology and globalization have increased inequality. 87 - Plutocrats - a review. The Observer Business and finance books Plutocrats: The Rise of the New Global Super Rich by Chrystia Freeland – review Outrageous fortunes abound in … This was not as readable as I had hoped - there is quite a but of historical background and unnecessary detail - but it's chock full of interesting tidbits nonetheless. When a capitalist quotes Marx, as Freeland does, it's a bad sign. I don't know what the book is about . We should learn from the chilling example of scribes, who started out as the most valued of employees, only to become, even before Dickens mentioned Bob Cratchit, miserably exploitable drudges. I had my suspicions about the book early on when Freeland unironically quoted the F. Scott Fitzgerald saw "the rich are different" without Hemingway's reply. And yes, you describe the plutocrats and how they ascended. Almost an exercise in name dropping and naming the names dropped meals. Entertaining reporting by a former Financial Times reporter on the rise of the 1% and what it all means. Yes, you point to the rise of the intellectual class and the importance of human capital. That Freeland is probably not going to be your best political friend should not put you off. Plus, the picture of private jets in the driveway attracted me as a vision of my hoped-for future, since I am comfortably in the 0.1%, and much of my time is spent struggling to reach yet higher. Instead, this book is a pretty dense, though rambling, web of analysis, with no funny stories at all. Anybody want to discuss Chrystia Freeland's book, Plutocrats? A Financial Times Best Book of the YearShortlisted for the Lionel Gelber PrizeThere has always been some gap between rich and poor in this country, but recently what it means to be rich has changed dramatically. And there are some books coming out on this very topic, which I expect to review as well, since I think this is a critical matter. 3 Comments A few years ago, I lost perhaps my favorite liberal talking head Chrystia Freeland in the North American media to the world of Canadian politics. The very rich are still different but, in a global economy, their power shows a fresh face. Book review: "Plutocrats: The Rise of the New Global Super-Rich" ... the book is poorly organized, with thematic chapters that are hard to tell apart … October 16th 2012 Their products enrich society and create technologies that allow the citizens of third world nations to work their way out of poverty and fashion better lives for themselves and their families. Today's world is going through two Gilded Ages simultaneously, the 2nd for the U.S. and the 1st for the BRICs. Not anymore. Yes, the growth in technology and globalization have increased inequality. They then use their millions (or. 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