Finished Plutocracy in America: How Increasing Inequality Destroys the Middle Class and Exploits the Poor
Plutocracy in America is a fascinating book that provides a comprehensive overview of how the various laws in America through the years have managed to benefit more and more of the upper fifth to the top 1% of Americans. Mr. Formisano had chapters focusing on various aspects of life, such as health and wellness, wealth and worth, political power, and what it means to be middle class, to show the ways that most Americans are suffering more than ever. Even for the top % of earners health is even down as they have their own sleeping woes and such. The writer makes the claim that if everyone were sharing in better earnings and more wealth than EVERYONE could benefit. Sadly if things keep going like they are, then the people who are in the bottom will stay trapped in the bottom, and there will be less vertical movement between classes, and the top 1% or less carry most of the earnings, most of the wealth, and most of the political power in America. It is stated that if wages remain low (for everyone from hourly workers at fast food places to even some professionals with advanced degrees in engineering and other positions) or hours are decreased then there is less money to be spent around as people are using it for just the essentials rent (if they arent behind), payday loans and fees, and bad food. Or they go into debt. The book is eye opening and not just for one in a certain political class but even both (as it shows in some cases even democrats are swayed to appeal to the people and groups that gave them the most money on their campaigns while avoiding many desires of the common man).
I found it to be a shocking read and one that generally stays on the mind. Some facts will probably always haunt the reader while most others (rural and education segregation, gated communities keeping wealthy from everyone else, low wages at MickeyD's and Walmart where the higher ups are taking in millions in salary + compensation, professors (adjunct) being paid at levels comparable to being in poverty or less than it and getting no benefits), if one has been following the news, wouldn't truly be surprising (corporations have managed to sometimes avoid paying tax or have a -% of how much tax they paid (because they get some federal money due to workers on government assistance), or people in the top % (people making more than the average median income of $23.5mln paying little to no taxes), university presidents using university money to raise wages of administrators but not others, and wasting money on private purchases splurging on expensive fine dining and multithousand dollar umbrella holders)
The book is fairly up to date as well incorporating data as new as late 2014, some mentions of how minimum wage is increasing and some aspects of the provisions of the ACA.
Where the book could be stronger is in the amount of information. While reading chapters seem to go by incredibly fast. Even though the writer is presenting information, it made me wonder if they could have shown even more data and stats. More tables and graphs would have been useful. Additionally properly labeled and clearly presented graphs would have been beneficial. There is one table in the book that would leave wondering wondering, first why is it important (it wasn't even referenced in the text), and secondly, what is it showing? It was hard to make out what the importance of the graph was (corporate tax as a portion of GDP).
Overall a must read book on inequality and money in America in 2015. Wont be a best nonfiction book of the year but was a great easy to get into book on the subject.
