Billionaire Democracy
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Billionaire Democracy
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Author : George Tyler
language : en
Publisher: BenBella Books
Release Date : 2018-01-30
Billionaire Democracy written by George Tyler and has been published by BenBella Books this book supported file pdf, txt, epub, kindle and other format this book has been release on 2018-01-30 with Political Science categories.
This isn’t your America. No matter who the president is. We’re told that when we vote, when we elect representatives, we’re gaining a voice in government and the policies it implements. But if that’s true, why don’t American politics actually translate our preferences into higher-living standards for the majority of us? The answer is that, in America, the wealthy few have built a system that works in their favor, while maintaining the illusion of democracy. The reality is that the quality of democracy in the United States is lower than in any other rich democracy, on a par with nations such as Brazil or Turkey. In the US, voters have little influence on eventual policy outcomes engineered by lawmakers. Political scientists call it the income bias and attribute it to the power of wealthy donors who favor wage suppression and cuts to important government programs such as public education and consumer protection. It causes American lawmakers to compete to satisfy preferences of donors from the top one percent instead of the middle class. It’s also why our economy has been misfiring for most Americans for a generation, wages stagnating and opportunity dwindling. The election of Donald Trump shocked the world, but for many Americans, it came as a stark reflection of mounting frustrations with our current system and anger at the status quo. We need to find a way to fix the way our government serves us. The only realistic pathway to improve middle-class economics is for Congress and the Supreme Court to raise the quality of American democracy. In Billionaire Democracy: The Hijacking of the American Political System, economist George R. Tyler lays out the fundamental problems plaguing our democracy. He explains how the American democratic system is rigged and how it has eroded the middle class, providing an unflinching and honest comparison of the US government to peer democracies abroad. He also breaks down where we fall short and how other rich democracies avoid the income bias created by the overwhelming role of money in US politics. Finally, Tyler outlines practical campaign finance reforms we can adopt when we finally focus on improving the political responsiveness of our government. It’s time for the people of this nation to demand a government that properly serves us, the American people.
Billionaires And Stealth Politics
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Author : Benjamin I. Page
language : en
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Release Date : 2018-12-21
Billionaires And Stealth Politics written by Benjamin I. Page and has been published by University of Chicago Press this book supported file pdf, txt, epub, kindle and other format this book has been release on 2018-12-21 with Political Science categories.
A look into the covert influence billionaires wield in American politics and the actions citizens can take to hold them more accountable. In 2016, when millions of Americans voted for Donald Trump, many believed his claims that personal wealth would free him from wealthy donors and allow him to “drain the swamp.” But then Trump appointed several billionaires and multimillionaires to high-level positions and pursued billionaire-friendly policies, such as cutting corporate income taxes. Why the change from his fiery campaign rhetoric and promises to the working class? This should not be surprising, argue Benjamin I. Page, Jason Seawright, and Matthew J. Lacombe: As the gap between the wealthiest and the rest of us has widened, the few who hold one billion dollars or more in net worth have begun to play a more and more active part in politics—with serious consequences for democracy in the United States. Page, Seawright, and Lacombe argue that while political contributions offer a window onto billionaires’ influence, especially on economic policy, they do not present a full picture of policy preferences and political actions. That is because on some of the most important issues, including taxation, immigration, and Social Security, billionaires have chosen to engage in “stealth politics.” They try hard to influence public policy, making large contributions to political parties and policy-focused causes, leading policy-advocacy organizations, holding political fundraisers, and bundling others’ contributions—all while rarely talking about public policy to the media. This means that their influence is not only unequal but also largely unaccountable to and unchallengeable by the American people. Stealth politics makes it difficult for ordinary citizens to know what billionaires are doing or mobilize against it. The book closes with remedies citizens can pursue if they wish to make wealthy Americans more politically accountable, such as public financing of political campaigns and easier voting procedures, and notes the broader types of reforms, such as a more progressive income tax system, that would be needed to increase political equality and reinvigorate majoritarian democracy in the United States. Praise for Billionaires and Stealth Politics “Incredibly important. The authors provide—for the first time—a clear sense of the politics and political activity of the top one hundred billionaires in America, matching what billionaires have said with what they’ve done and showing the troubling transparency gap that is critical to the evolution of policy. Billionaires and Stealth Politics is a key addition to understanding our current political reality, focused on it most significant lever.” —Lawrence Lessig, author of America, Compromised “The wealth held by American billionaires exceeds the Gross Domestic Product of dozens of countries. They exercise tremendous influence over society, the economy, and politics. Yet their impact is not well-understood. Page, Seawright, and Lacombe have given us a compelling and original piece of work on an important topic.” —Darrell M. West, Brookings Institution
Davos Man
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Author : Peter S. Goodman
language : en
Publisher: HarperCollins
Release Date : 2022-01-18
Davos Man written by Peter S. Goodman and has been published by HarperCollins this book supported file pdf, txt, epub, kindle and other format this book has been release on 2022-01-18 with Business & Economics categories.
A San Francisco Chronicle Bestseller The New York Times’s Global Economics Correspondent masterfully reveals how billionaires’ systematic plunder of the world—brazenly accelerated during the pandemic—has transformed 21st-century life and dangerously destabilized democracy. “Davos Man will be read a hundred years from now as a warning.” —Evan Osnos “Excellent. A powerful, fiery book, and it could well be an essential one.” —NPR.org The history of the last half century in America, Europe, and other major economies is in large part the story of wealth flowing upward. The most affluent people emerged from capitalism’s triumph in the Cold War to loot the peace, depriving governments of the resources needed to serve their people, and leaving them tragically unprepared for the worst pandemic in a century. Drawing on decades of experience covering the global economy, award-winning journalist Peter S. Goodman profiles five representative “Davos Men”—members of the billionaire class—chronicling how their shocking exploitation of the global pandemic has hastened a fifty-year trend of wealth centralization. Alongside this reporting, Goodman delivers textured portraits of those caught in Davos Man’s wake, including a former steelworker in the American Midwest, a Bangladeshi migrant in Qatar, a Seattle doctor on the front lines of the fight against COVID, blue-collar workers in the tenements of Buenos Aires, an African immigrant in Sweden, a textile manufacturer in Italy, an Amazon warehouse employee in New York City, and more. Goodman’s revelatory exposé of the global billionaire class reveals their hidden impact on nearly every aspect of modern society: widening wealth inequality, the rise of anti-democratic nationalism, the shrinking opportunity to earn a livable wage, the vulnerabilities of our health-care systems, access to affordable housing, unequal taxation, and even the quality of the shirt on your back. Meticulously reported yet compulsively readable, Davos Man is an essential read for anyone concerned about economic justice, the capacity of societies to grapple with their greatest challenges, and the sanctity of representative government.
Billionaires Ball
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Author : Linda McQuaig
language : en
Publisher: Beacon Press
Release Date : 2012-03-27
Billionaires Ball written by Linda McQuaig and has been published by Beacon Press this book supported file pdf, txt, epub, kindle and other format this book has been release on 2012-03-27 with Business & Economics categories.
The concentration of wealth today in such a small number of hands inevitably created a dynamic that led to freewheeling financial speculation—a dynamic that produced similarly disastrous results in the last great age of inequality, in the 1920s. Such concentrated economic power reverberates throughout society, threatening the quality of life and the very functioning of democracy. As McQuaig and Brooks illustrate, it's no accident that the United States claims the most billionaires but suffers from among the highest rates of infant mortality and crime, the shortest life expectancy, and the lowest rates of social mobility and electoral political participation in the developed world. In Billionaires' Ball, McQuaig and Brooks take us back in history to the political decisions that helped birth our billionaires, then move us forward to the cutting-edge research into the dangers that concentrated wealth poses. Via vivid profiles of billionaires—ranging from philanthropic capitalists such as Bill Gates to hedge fund king John Paulson and the infamous band of Koch brothers—Billionaires' Ball illustrates why we hold dearly to the belief that they "earned" and "deserve" their grand fortunes, when such wealth is really a by-product of a legal and economic infrastructure that's become deeply flawed.
The Argument
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Author : Matt Bai
language : en
Publisher: Penguin Press HC
Release Date : 2007
The Argument written by Matt Bai and has been published by Penguin Press HC this book supported file pdf, txt, epub, kindle and other format this book has been release on 2007 with Progressivism (United States politics) categories.
"While pundits obsess over who's up and who's down on Capitol Hill, the real action in Democratic politics is happening among the grass roots, where an emerging progressive movement - the first popular movement of the Internet age - is seizing power from the party's weakened Washington establishment. Bai gets deep inside this movement, penetrating a secret club of wealthy donors and following a group of other progressive power brokers - Howard Dean, the blogger Markos Moulitsas, the union chief Andy Stern, the leaders of MoveOn.org - as they vie with party leaders for control of a vastly changed Democratic landscape. What does it mean to be a Democrat seventy-five years after the New Deal, in a society transformed by the suburb, the Internet, and the mutual fund?"--BOOK JACKET.
Dark Money
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Author : Jane Mayer
language : en
Publisher: Anchor
Release Date : 2016-01-19
Dark Money written by Jane Mayer and has been published by Anchor this book supported file pdf, txt, epub, kindle and other format this book has been release on 2016-01-19 with Political Science categories.
NATIONAL BESTSELLER ONE OF THE NEW YORK TIMES 10 BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR Who are the immensely wealthy right-wing ideologues shaping the fate of America today? From the bestselling author of The Dark Side, an electrifying work of investigative journalism that uncovers the agenda of this powerful group. In her new preface, Jane Mayer discusses the results of the most recent election and Donald Trump's victory, and how, despite much discussion to the contrary, this was a huge victory for the billionaires who have been pouring money in the American political system. Why is America living in an age of profound and widening economic inequality? Why have even modest attempts to address climate change been defeated again and again? Why do hedge-fund billionaires pay a far lower tax rate than middle-class workers? In a riveting and indelible feat of reporting, Jane Mayer illuminates the history of an elite cadre of plutocrats—headed by the Kochs, the Scaifes, the Olins, and the Bradleys—who have bankrolled a systematic plan to fundamentally alter the American political system. Mayer traces a byzantine trail of billions of dollars spent by the network, revealing a staggering conglomeration of think tanks, academic institutions, media groups, courthouses, and government allies that have fallen under their sphere of influence. Drawing from hundreds of exclusive interviews, as well as extensive scrutiny of public records, private papers, and court proceedings, Mayer provides vivid portraits of the secretive figures behind the new American oligarchy and a searing look at the carefully concealed agendas steering the nation. Dark Money is an essential book for anyone who cares about the future of American democracy. National Book Critics Circle Award Finalist LA Times Book Prize Finalist PEN/Jean Stein Book Award Finalist Shortlisted for the Lukas Prize
Behind The Curtain
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Author : Jeff Reynolds
language : en
Publisher: Bombardier Books
Release Date : 2019-02-26
Behind The Curtain written by Jeff Reynolds and has been published by Bombardier Books this book supported file pdf, txt, epub, kindle and other format this book has been release on 2019-02-26 with Political Science categories.
You’re probably familiar with George Soros. You may be familiar with Tom Steyer. You may even know who their other billionaire buddies are on the Left, and which foundations they use to exert political pressure. But do you know how they organize their dollars and their organizations to have maximum impact, while shielding themselves from voter scrutiny and criminal charges? Behind the Curtain is a look into the murky world of dark money—massive amounts of it aligned to push a far-left agenda that would make even mainstream liberals shiver. Behind the Curtain reveals the sordid web of limousine liberals and subversive billionaires in a chilling tale of power, greed, envy, and the politics of personal destruction. It is also the story of the lengths to which the organized Left will go to overturn the results of the 2016 election using the courts, a shadowy network of nonprofit organizations and consulting firms, and an increasingly compliant media.
Buying A Better World
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Author : Anna Porter
language : en
Publisher: Dundurn
Release Date : 2015-02-21
Buying A Better World written by Anna Porter and has been published by Dundurn this book supported file pdf, txt, epub, kindle and other format this book has been release on 2015-02-21 with Political Science categories.
The incredible, inside story of the man and the organization changing the way we change the world. George Soros is well known as the legendary speculator who made a fortune betting against the British pound in 1992, but he is also a philanthropist who has spent billions in order to promote democracy around the world. Morton Abramowitz of the Carnegie Endowment for Peace once said that Soros was “the only private citizen with his own foreign policy.” Anna Porter has interviewed Soros, his senior staff, journalists, politicians, and many others in an attempt to understand the man. Each person has a unique story to tell. Focusing on the last decade, she explores how Soros’s Open Society Foundations have spread his ideas of human rights, democracy, Western liberalism, and participatory capitalism around the globe. These are the ideas Soros has said he considers worth dying for. How have they translated into reality? What will his legacy be?
Dark Money
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Author : Leopard Books
language : en
Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
Release Date : 2016-03-21
Dark Money written by Leopard Books and has been published by Createspace Independent Publishing Platform this book supported file pdf, txt, epub, kindle and other format this book has been release on 2016-03-21 with categories.
Dark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right by Jane Mayer | A 15-Minute Summary & Analysis Preview:We all realize that there are many factors that can affect politics and the way in which the United States is run. Some of the methods used to influence the government are so covert that we may not even realize what is happening. In Dark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right, Jane Mayer finds some startling discoveries on how the men of wealth have made their fortunes by manipulating the government using covert means. PLEASE NOTE: This is a Summary and Analysis of the book and NOT the original book. This companion includes the following: - Book Review- Character List- Summary of the Chapters- Discussion Questions- Analysis of Themes & Symbols This Analysis fills the gap, making you understand more while enhancing your reading experience.
The Bill Gates Problem
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Author : Tim Schwab
language : en
Publisher: Random House
Release Date : 2023-11-16
The Bill Gates Problem written by Tim Schwab and has been published by Random House this book supported file pdf, txt, epub, kindle and other format this book has been release on 2023-11-16 with Business & Economics categories.
You know him as the founder of Microsoft; the philanthropic, kind-hearted billionaire who has donated endless funds to good causes around the world. But there's another side to Bill Gates. We might like to think of the Gates Foundation as an innocent charity giving away money, collaborating with stakeholders, and listening to the desires of the populations it hopes to help, but is that how it works in practice? Combining rich storytelling and ground-breaking reporting, The Bill Gates Problem offers readers a provocative and timely counter-narrative about one of the world's most widely recognized individuals - a true global celebrity with international reach. But more than that, this book speaks to a vital political question around economic inequality and the erosion of democratic institutions - why should the super-rich be able to transform their wealth into political power, and just how far can they go?