--- product_id: 221578 title: "The Price of Inequality: How Today's Divided Society Endangers Our Future" price: "VT6973" currency: VUV in_stock: true reviews_count: 13 url: https://www.desertcart.vu/products/221578-the-price-of-inequality-how-todays-divided-society-endangers-our store_origin: VU region: Vanuatu --- # The Price of Inequality: How Today's Divided Society Endangers Our Future **Price:** VT6973 **Availability:** ✅ In Stock ## Quick Answers - **What is this?** The Price of Inequality: How Today's Divided Society Endangers Our Future - **How much does it cost?** VT6973 with free shipping - **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship - **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.vu](https://www.desertcart.vu/products/221578-the-price-of-inequality-how-todays-divided-society-endangers-our) ## Best For - Customers looking for quality international products ## Why This Product - Free international shipping included - Worldwide delivery with tracking - 15-day hassle-free returns ## Description A forceful argument against America's vicious circle of growing inequality by the Nobel Prize–winning economist. The top 1 percent of Americans control some 40 percent of the nation’s wealth. But as Joseph E. Stiglitz explains in this best-selling critique of the economic status quo, this level of inequality is not inevitable. Rather, in recent years well-heeled interests have compounded their wealth by stifling true, dynamic capitalism and making America no longer the land of opportunity that it once was. They have made America the most unequal advanced industrial country while crippling growth, distorting key policy debates, and fomenting a divided society. Stiglitz not only shows how and why America’s inequality is bad for our economy but also exposes the effects of inequality on our democracy and on our system of justice while examining how monetary policy, budgetary policy, and globalization have contributed to its growth. With characteristic insight, he diagnoses our weakened state while offering a vision for a more just and prosperous future. Review: A 99 Percent Review - The Price of Inequality: How Today's Divided Society Endangers Our Future by Joseph E. Stiglitz "The Price of Inequality" is one of the most compelling economic books about the excessive inequality in the United States. It does a fabulous job of explaining three interlinking themes: that inequality is cause and consequence of the failure of the political system, and contributes to the instability of our economic system, which in turns contributes to inequality. Winner of the 2001 Nobel Memorial Prize for Economics and acclaimed professor and author, Joseph Stiglitz, provides the reader with a quote-fest of a book that addresses not only the reasons for such a financial divide but provides pragmatic economical ways to tackle them. This enlightening and pragmatic 449-page book is composed of the following ten chapters: 1. America's 1 Percent Problem, 2. Rent Seeking and the Making of an Unequal Society, 3. Markets and Inequality, 4. Why It Matters, 5. A Democracy in Peril, 6. 1984 Is Upon Us, 7. Justice for All? How Inequality is Eroding the Rule of Law, 8. The Battle of the Budget, 9. A Macroeconomic Policy and a Critical Bank By and for the 1 Percent and 10. The Way Forward: Another World Is Possible. Positives: 1. A well-written page-turner of a book that is accessible to the masses. A quote fest. 2. It's always a treat to read a book from an expert who knows what he is talking about and how to relay it to the public. 3. Great format. The author starts each of the ten chapters with a quick synopsis and closes out with concluding comments. 4. This book succeeds in getting to the heart of the thesis: why inequality is growing to the extent it is and what the consequences are. Stiglitz is relentless in his pursuit and we are the beneficiaries. 5. Why are economic system is unfair? Answered to satisfaction. Eye-opening information. 6. "While there may be underlying forces at play, politics have shaped the market, and shaped it in ways that advantage the top at the expense of the rest". It's a quote fest alright. 7. The 1 percent in perspective. " For an even more striking illustration of the state of inequality in America, consider the Walton family: the six heirs to the Wal-Mart empire command wealth of $69.7 billion, which is equivalent to the wealth of the entire bottom 30 percent of U.S. society. The numbers may not be as surprising as they seem, simply because those at the bottom have so little wealth". 8. How government policies shape inequality. "A major theme of this book is that inequality is the result of political forces as much as of economic ones". 9. There is so many mind-blowing facts in this book, " A little-noticed change in legislation, for example, can reap billions of dollars. This was the case when the government extended a much-needed Medicare drug benefit in 2003. A provision in the law that prohibited government from bargaining for prices on drugs was, in effect, a gift of some $50 billion or more per year to the pharmaceutical companies". Oh yeah, it's like that. 10. How societal norms shape inequality. How globalization as it has been managed contributes to inequality. Interesting stuff. 11. The true role of government and how our government failed the 99%. "The United States spent far more on its big bank bailout, which helped the banks to maintain their generous bonuses, than it spent to help those who were unemployed as a result of the recession that the big banks brought about. We created for the banks (and other corporations, like AIG) a much stronger safety net than we created for poor Americans". 12. The effects of inequality on national output and economic stability, and its impact on economic efficiency and on growth. 13. Some very key points that will stick with me, "The 2010 decision in the case of Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, in which the Supreme Court essentially approved unbridled corporate campaign spending, represented a milestone in the disempowerment of ordinary Americans". A need to reform our political process. 14. How the 1 percent convinces the 99 percent that they have shared interests. It's about shaping perceptions. 15. The battle over laws and regulations that govern our economy and how they are enforced. How the powerful have turned America's legal system into a travesty of justice. 16. A great section on predatory lending. How the banks won at the expense of America. And an infuriating section on student loans. 17. How surpluses under Clinton were turned to deficits under the influence of four major forces. The budget in perspective. 18. Practical recommendations to reduce the deficit. "lowering the taxes on firms that created jobs and invested in America and raising taxes on those that didn't". 19. A section on debunking myths: the supply-side myth, the raising taxes on millionaires will hurt small businesses and therefore cost jobs myth, the government-run programs must be inefficient myth, blame the poor myth, the austerity myth, and the failed stimulus myth. 20. Understanding the real role of policy makers. "A central theme of the book is that some of the policy choices have simultaneously increased inequality, benefitting those at the top-- and hurt the economy". 21. "The Fed gambled, in trusting that banks on their own could manage risk--a gamble that paid off handsomely for the banks, and especially for the bankers, but in which the rest paid the price. The Fed could have curbed the reckless and predatory lending, the abusive credit card practices, but chose not to do so. Again, the banks were the winners; the rest the losers". I just can't word that any better. 22. The obsession with inflation. A good section. 23. Ending on a positive note. " This book is not about the politics of envy: the bottom 99 percent by and large are not jealous of the social contributions that some of those among the 1 percent have made, of their well-deserved incomes. This book is instead about the politics of efficiency and fairness. The central argument is that the model that best describes income determination at the top is not one based on individuals' contributions to society (the "marginal productivity theory" introduced earlier), even though, of course, some at the top have made enormous contributions. Much of the income at the top is instead what we have called rents". 24. A list of recommendations in narrative format that shows what needs to be done to create reforms we need in our economics and our politics. 25. A comprehensive notes section. Negatives: 1. The strength of this book is clearly explaining how we got to this level of inequality, the biggest weakness is the level of the cure not necessarily matching the disease. I feel that the recommendations covered in this book are good, it just doesn't live up to the diagnosis. I also disagree with a few of the recommendations. Getting the marginal tax back to 70% seems unfair even to this progressive-minded reviewer. 2. A little repetitive. 3. Some of the material in this book will make your blood boil. 4. Charts and illustrations would have added value. 5. The notes section was very comprehensive but a formal bibliography never hurts. In summary, this is a fantastic book. I really enjoyed it. Stiglitz has a great command of the topic and is able to convey his thoughts in a lucid an accessible manner. His arguments are sound and quite compelling and backed by countless references. If you want to learn how we got to this level of inequality, this is a fantastic book that covers it with expertise. I highly recommend it! Further suggestions: " Red Ink: Inside the High-Stakes Politics of the Federal Budget " by David Wessel, " The Benefit and The Burden: Tax Reform-Why We Need It and What It Will Take " by Bruce Bartlett, " It's the Middle Class, Stupid! " by James Carville and Stan Greenberg, " End This Depression Now! " by Paul Krugman, " Beyond Outrage: What has gone wrong with our economy and our democracy, and how to fix them " by Robert B. Reich, " The Republican Brain: The Science of Why They Deny Science- and Reality " by Chris Mooney, " Winner-Take-All Politics: How Washington Made the Rich Richer--and Turned Its Back on the Middle Class " by Jacob S. Hacker, " Screwed: The Undeclared War Against the Middle Class - And What We Can Do about It (BK Currents (Paperback)) " by Thom Hartmann, " The Monster: How a Gang of Predatory Lenders and Wall Street Bankers Fleeced America--and Spawned a Global Crisis " by Michael W. Hudson, "Perfectly Legal..." by David Cay Johnston, and "The Looting of America" by Les Leopold. Review: Excellent analysis of the market failures that help exacerbate income inequality - Stiglitz has put together an excellent account of aspects of our economic backdrop that create and promote ineqality. He discusses how these outcomes hurt growth and lay the seeds of large problems. He is foundational in his approach and focuses on clear examples of market failures and information asymmetries that have misaligned income with outcome. Given his nobel prize was related to information asymmetries, Stiglitz is extremely well positioned to discuss how market failures interfere with the marginal productivity of labour theory. The book is divided into 10 chapters. Chapter 1- America's 1 pct problem presents the backgdrop of the distribution of wealth in the US how it has changed over the last 30 years, how the middle class is shrinking and how mean and median GDP are diverging. Chapter 2 - Rent Seeking and the Making of an Unequal Society discusses what is happening to the distribution of income through the recession and how the growing inquality has been created and is not the function of natural market forces. Other high income countries have different distributional outcomes than ours and ours is the worst. The author then discusse show wealth creates power and facilitates changes to the rules of the game to extract rents is an age old problem. Chapter 3 - Markets and Inequality discusses how markets can be modified politically to facilitate better outcomes for those with the power to change market structures. Chapter 4 - Why it matters discusses what the repurcussions of income inequality can be. It is not a standard economic subject but it is an extremely important one (one that was Marx put focus on for example). Chapter 5- Democracy in Peril is a discussion of the failing democracy in the US and how money is influencing politics. The Supreme Court decision to allow corporations to fund campaigns is an example. Chapter 6 - 1984 is upon us will probably create much protest. It discusses how humans dont have rational expectations and respond to questions via framing and how money can change social norms through the shaping of debate to promote beliefs that benefit the 1% as natural outcomes of the most fair state. Chapter 7 - Justice for All discusses how the legal system is not egalitarian and how outcomes for the poor are skewed against them given a lack of resources to maneouvre through the justice system. Chapter 8 - The Battle of the Budget is a discussion of the budget, how we got here and how to think about the problem. Chapter 9 - A macroeconomic policy and a central bank by and for the 1 pct is a condemnation of the central bank. It makes the case that the central bank is an instrument of the 1 percent and its policies promoted the interests of the 1%. I find this chapter quite biased and i think if the author was to argue a point he should discuss the need for macroprudential central banking instead of inflation targetting. Monetary policy cannot substitute for much fiscal failings. The way forward- Another world is possible is an overview of the book with short policy directions to consider. All in all this book is excellent. It discusses civic duty and justice, it discusses human nature and sociology and it discusses real economics. It gives accounts about how distribution of profits between labour and capital is a function of the institutional and legal regimes, it is not the natural consequence of economic order. It discusses how much invention is founded on public ideas and dwindling public research has an impact on our productivity. This book is political, economic and philosophical and it is well reasoned on all accounts. This puts together a lot of ideas and it does it very well. It is a must read for a well reasoned account of what is happening in the US. One doesnt have to agree with many points, but to ignore such literature would be ignoring important information necessary for productive discourse. ## Technical Specifications | Specification | Value | |---------------|-------| | Best Sellers Rank | #214,666 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) #39 in Economic Policy #48 in Economic Policy & Development (Books) #111 in Economic Conditions (Books) | | Customer Reviews | 4.5 out of 5 stars 1,683 Reviews | ## Images ![The Price of Inequality: How Today's Divided Society Endangers Our Future - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/610QQ1FGn5L.jpg) ## Customer Reviews ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ A 99 Percent Review *by B***K on August 13, 2012* The Price of Inequality: How Today's Divided Society Endangers Our Future by Joseph E. Stiglitz "The Price of Inequality" is one of the most compelling economic books about the excessive inequality in the United States. It does a fabulous job of explaining three interlinking themes: that inequality is cause and consequence of the failure of the political system, and contributes to the instability of our economic system, which in turns contributes to inequality. Winner of the 2001 Nobel Memorial Prize for Economics and acclaimed professor and author, Joseph Stiglitz, provides the reader with a quote-fest of a book that addresses not only the reasons for such a financial divide but provides pragmatic economical ways to tackle them. This enlightening and pragmatic 449-page book is composed of the following ten chapters: 1. America's 1 Percent Problem, 2. Rent Seeking and the Making of an Unequal Society, 3. Markets and Inequality, 4. Why It Matters, 5. A Democracy in Peril, 6. 1984 Is Upon Us, 7. Justice for All? How Inequality is Eroding the Rule of Law, 8. The Battle of the Budget, 9. A Macroeconomic Policy and a Critical Bank By and for the 1 Percent and 10. The Way Forward: Another World Is Possible. Positives: 1. A well-written page-turner of a book that is accessible to the masses. A quote fest. 2. It's always a treat to read a book from an expert who knows what he is talking about and how to relay it to the public. 3. Great format. The author starts each of the ten chapters with a quick synopsis and closes out with concluding comments. 4. This book succeeds in getting to the heart of the thesis: why inequality is growing to the extent it is and what the consequences are. Stiglitz is relentless in his pursuit and we are the beneficiaries. 5. Why are economic system is unfair? Answered to satisfaction. Eye-opening information. 6. "While there may be underlying forces at play, politics have shaped the market, and shaped it in ways that advantage the top at the expense of the rest". It's a quote fest alright. 7. The 1 percent in perspective. " For an even more striking illustration of the state of inequality in America, consider the Walton family: the six heirs to the Wal-Mart empire command wealth of $69.7 billion, which is equivalent to the wealth of the entire bottom 30 percent of U.S. society. The numbers may not be as surprising as they seem, simply because those at the bottom have so little wealth". 8. How government policies shape inequality. "A major theme of this book is that inequality is the result of political forces as much as of economic ones". 9. There is so many mind-blowing facts in this book, " A little-noticed change in legislation, for example, can reap billions of dollars. This was the case when the government extended a much-needed Medicare drug benefit in 2003. A provision in the law that prohibited government from bargaining for prices on drugs was, in effect, a gift of some $50 billion or more per year to the pharmaceutical companies". Oh yeah, it's like that. 10. How societal norms shape inequality. How globalization as it has been managed contributes to inequality. Interesting stuff. 11. The true role of government and how our government failed the 99%. "The United States spent far more on its big bank bailout, which helped the banks to maintain their generous bonuses, than it spent to help those who were unemployed as a result of the recession that the big banks brought about. We created for the banks (and other corporations, like AIG) a much stronger safety net than we created for poor Americans". 12. The effects of inequality on national output and economic stability, and its impact on economic efficiency and on growth. 13. Some very key points that will stick with me, "The 2010 decision in the case of Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, in which the Supreme Court essentially approved unbridled corporate campaign spending, represented a milestone in the disempowerment of ordinary Americans". A need to reform our political process. 14. How the 1 percent convinces the 99 percent that they have shared interests. It's about shaping perceptions. 15. The battle over laws and regulations that govern our economy and how they are enforced. How the powerful have turned America's legal system into a travesty of justice. 16. A great section on predatory lending. How the banks won at the expense of America. And an infuriating section on student loans. 17. How surpluses under Clinton were turned to deficits under the influence of four major forces. The budget in perspective. 18. Practical recommendations to reduce the deficit. "lowering the taxes on firms that created jobs and invested in America and raising taxes on those that didn't". 19. A section on debunking myths: the supply-side myth, the raising taxes on millionaires will hurt small businesses and therefore cost jobs myth, the government-run programs must be inefficient myth, blame the poor myth, the austerity myth, and the failed stimulus myth. 20. Understanding the real role of policy makers. "A central theme of the book is that some of the policy choices have simultaneously increased inequality, benefitting those at the top-- and hurt the economy". 21. "The Fed gambled, in trusting that banks on their own could manage risk--a gamble that paid off handsomely for the banks, and especially for the bankers, but in which the rest paid the price. The Fed could have curbed the reckless and predatory lending, the abusive credit card practices, but chose not to do so. Again, the banks were the winners; the rest the losers". I just can't word that any better. 22. The obsession with inflation. A good section. 23. Ending on a positive note. " This book is not about the politics of envy: the bottom 99 percent by and large are not jealous of the social contributions that some of those among the 1 percent have made, of their well-deserved incomes. This book is instead about the politics of efficiency and fairness. The central argument is that the model that best describes income determination at the top is not one based on individuals' contributions to society (the "marginal productivity theory" introduced earlier), even though, of course, some at the top have made enormous contributions. Much of the income at the top is instead what we have called rents". 24. A list of recommendations in narrative format that shows what needs to be done to create reforms we need in our economics and our politics. 25. A comprehensive notes section. Negatives: 1. The strength of this book is clearly explaining how we got to this level of inequality, the biggest weakness is the level of the cure not necessarily matching the disease. I feel that the recommendations covered in this book are good, it just doesn't live up to the diagnosis. I also disagree with a few of the recommendations. Getting the marginal tax back to 70% seems unfair even to this progressive-minded reviewer. 2. A little repetitive. 3. Some of the material in this book will make your blood boil. 4. Charts and illustrations would have added value. 5. The notes section was very comprehensive but a formal bibliography never hurts. In summary, this is a fantastic book. I really enjoyed it. Stiglitz has a great command of the topic and is able to convey his thoughts in a lucid an accessible manner. His arguments are sound and quite compelling and backed by countless references. If you want to learn how we got to this level of inequality, this is a fantastic book that covers it with expertise. I highly recommend it! Further suggestions: " Red Ink: Inside the High-Stakes Politics of the Federal Budget " by David Wessel, " The Benefit and The Burden: Tax Reform-Why We Need It and What It Will Take " by Bruce Bartlett, " It's the Middle Class, Stupid! " by James Carville and Stan Greenberg, " End This Depression Now! " by Paul Krugman, " Beyond Outrage: What has gone wrong with our economy and our democracy, and how to fix them " by Robert B. Reich, " The Republican Brain: The Science of Why They Deny Science- and Reality " by Chris Mooney, " Winner-Take-All Politics: How Washington Made the Rich Richer--and Turned Its Back on the Middle Class " by Jacob S. Hacker, " Screwed: The Undeclared War Against the Middle Class - And What We Can Do about It (BK Currents (Paperback)) " by Thom Hartmann, " The Monster: How a Gang of Predatory Lenders and Wall Street Bankers Fleeced America--and Spawned a Global Crisis " by Michael W. Hudson, "Perfectly Legal..." by David Cay Johnston, and "The Looting of America" by Les Leopold. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Excellent analysis of the market failures that help exacerbate income inequality *by A***N on October 5, 2012* Stiglitz has put together an excellent account of aspects of our economic backdrop that create and promote ineqality. He discusses how these outcomes hurt growth and lay the seeds of large problems. He is foundational in his approach and focuses on clear examples of market failures and information asymmetries that have misaligned income with outcome. Given his nobel prize was related to information asymmetries, Stiglitz is extremely well positioned to discuss how market failures interfere with the marginal productivity of labour theory. The book is divided into 10 chapters. Chapter 1- America's 1 pct problem presents the backgdrop of the distribution of wealth in the US how it has changed over the last 30 years, how the middle class is shrinking and how mean and median GDP are diverging. Chapter 2 - Rent Seeking and the Making of an Unequal Society discusses what is happening to the distribution of income through the recession and how the growing inquality has been created and is not the function of natural market forces. Other high income countries have different distributional outcomes than ours and ours is the worst. The author then discusse show wealth creates power and facilitates changes to the rules of the game to extract rents is an age old problem. Chapter 3 - Markets and Inequality discusses how markets can be modified politically to facilitate better outcomes for those with the power to change market structures. Chapter 4 - Why it matters discusses what the repurcussions of income inequality can be. It is not a standard economic subject but it is an extremely important one (one that was Marx put focus on for example). Chapter 5- Democracy in Peril is a discussion of the failing democracy in the US and how money is influencing politics. The Supreme Court decision to allow corporations to fund campaigns is an example. Chapter 6 - 1984 is upon us will probably create much protest. It discusses how humans dont have rational expectations and respond to questions via framing and how money can change social norms through the shaping of debate to promote beliefs that benefit the 1% as natural outcomes of the most fair state. Chapter 7 - Justice for All discusses how the legal system is not egalitarian and how outcomes for the poor are skewed against them given a lack of resources to maneouvre through the justice system. Chapter 8 - The Battle of the Budget is a discussion of the budget, how we got here and how to think about the problem. Chapter 9 - A macroeconomic policy and a central bank by and for the 1 pct is a condemnation of the central bank. It makes the case that the central bank is an instrument of the 1 percent and its policies promoted the interests of the 1%. I find this chapter quite biased and i think if the author was to argue a point he should discuss the need for macroprudential central banking instead of inflation targetting. Monetary policy cannot substitute for much fiscal failings. The way forward- Another world is possible is an overview of the book with short policy directions to consider. All in all this book is excellent. It discusses civic duty and justice, it discusses human nature and sociology and it discusses real economics. It gives accounts about how distribution of profits between labour and capital is a function of the institutional and legal regimes, it is not the natural consequence of economic order. It discusses how much invention is founded on public ideas and dwindling public research has an impact on our productivity. This book is political, economic and philosophical and it is well reasoned on all accounts. This puts together a lot of ideas and it does it very well. It is a must read for a well reasoned account of what is happening in the US. One doesnt have to agree with many points, but to ignore such literature would be ignoring important information necessary for productive discourse. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ A Keynesian in Populist clothing *by J***M on August 1, 2015* A good book overall. His prognosis is spot on, the rich have accumulated massive wealth, not only because of good businesses or inventions but mainly from working the system to their advantage. The spread between the haves and have nots is only getting worse and the policies of the government have made things worse. Where I disagree with him is with the treatment plan and how we got here. Both the tea party and the occupy people agree, the government is not for the people anymore. The bank bailouts are socialist welfare in our time. It shows how capitalism has been corrupted by the rent seeking activities of large corporations and banks. But the movements differ in how to solve the problem. The tea partiers want less government and let the banks fail for making bad bets. The occupy guys want more intervention and regulation. Stiglitz errs when he puts the entire blame on corporations totally. He only barely mentions the policies of the federal reserve. Their cutting of interest rates in the early 2000s was the displacement that caused the housing bubble. He speaks so highly of Keynesian economics and this idea of "lack of demand" and "full employment" and that we could avoid depressions if we just inject excess demand and liquidity in the market. But how about QE 1,2,3? That is exactly what QE was, an attempt to spur consumerism and it didnt work. Greenspan, Bernanke, and Yellen are all Keynesians. Stiglitz seems to think there is no repercussions for endless debt and spending to spur the economy but totally ignores that we have tried ZIRP since 2009 and haven't raised interest rates once and have had 3 rounds of QE. And things are as bad as ever. So what flavor of Keynesianism he is advocating I'm not sure. He says, "To stimulate investment, we must focus on stimulating demand. Getting more money into the pockets of those in the middle and bottom would do that." So what is he saying, just give money to the poor, that is already done through 46 million on food stamps and 73 million on medicaid. Of course we can stimulate demand, but demand means spending money we don't have. It's already been exhausted. I do like his idea of taxing the richest and spending it on infrastructure. Our infrastructure went from 7th in the world in 2009 to 14th in 2014. All the while we were doing QE instead of investing in our country. Now the FED holds 4 trillion in Treasury bonds and for what? ZIRP an QE have just played into the hands of investment banks and speculators. 50% of the country doesn't even invest in stocks and that is the only place you see a rate of return on your money. His ideas on global warming are crazy to me. Taxing carbon and investing in clean energy to me is just another side of the same coin as corporate welfare. Anytime the book is closed on science and the alarm bell ringers are asking for money you should be alarmed. He talks about jobs being the number one thing that will help the middle class and with our country awash in new found oil we could create many jobs. But instead he wants to subsidize very expensive energy sources to "save the planet". The premise he uses to me is very un-American. He takes a populist tone that everyone deserves college education, a good paying job, and security for their children. Why? The country used to stand for each man/woman doing as they pleased and taking the rewards and punishments. If you couldn't afford kids you don't have them. He argues that BECAUSE poor people have kids they need good jobs. A pretty ridiculous argument. This country is spoiled and entitled. I'm in the military, if you want free college sign up for three years then use your GI bill. He just needs to admit not everyone deserves to live in a home, bottom line. Restructuring mortgages for people is the ultimate moral hazard. They didn't deserve to live in a home in the first place. Live within your means. His ideas about estate taxes are ridiculous. He basically says, "Well you were responsible and made good choices and you want to keep the money in your family but we need to tax that heavily to stop the accumulation of power." Before the welfare state we depended on families, friends, neighbors, and communities to get along. But with the advent of the welfare state the worthless scum in our society have been rewarded for breeding like rabbits out of wedlock and then expecting society to pay. We only have ourselves to blame for the corporate state, 50% turn out for federal elections. We are just too busy hash tagging and updating facebook statuses to care. A good book for sure, but I just disagree with his prescription for correcting what is wrong. Another good read that agrees with his premise is The Great Deformation by David Stockman. ## Frequently Bought Together - The Price of Inequality: How Today's Divided Society Endangers Our Future - People, Power, and Profits: Progressive Capitalism for an Age of Discontent - The Road to Freedom: Economics and the Good Society --- ## Why Shop on Desertcart? - 🛒 **Trusted by 1.3+ Million Shoppers** — Serving international shoppers since 2016 - 🌍 **Shop Globally** — Access 737+ million products across 21 categories - 💰 **No Hidden Fees** — All customs, duties, and taxes included in the price - 🔄 **15-Day Free Returns** — Hassle-free returns (30 days for PRO members) - 🔒 **Secure Payments** — Trusted payment options with buyer protection - ⭐ **TrustPilot Rated 4.5/5** — Based on 8,000+ happy customer reviews **Shop now:** [https://www.desertcart.vu/products/221578-the-price-of-inequality-how-todays-divided-society-endangers-our](https://www.desertcart.vu/products/221578-the-price-of-inequality-how-todays-divided-society-endangers-our) --- *Product available on Desertcart Vanuatu* *Store origin: VU* *Last updated: 2026-05-11*