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Winner-take-all Politics

How Washington Made the Rich Richer-and Turned Its Back on the Middle Class
Jul 13, 2016Ethan_Annis rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
[I originally wrote a version of this review on Facebook and edited it for this staff pick review. EA] Hacker and Pierson do an outstanding job describing how during last 35 years the government altered the tax structure in ways that favor the wealthy and businesses. What I found surprising was that both parties often voted for tax code restructuring that has led to the most extreme wealth concentrations since the Great Depression. Recent news stories inform us that sometimes hedge fund managers, earning a billion dollars, pay a lower tax rate than their secretaries and that despite hefty profits, General Electric paid no taxes this year. Winner Take All makes a compelling case that the tax breaks that made these situations possible were achieved over decades by lobbying, starting in the mid 1970's. Before the 1970's the Labor Movement represented the working and middle class Americans. In the mid 1970's, Labor's fortunes began to diminish and thus there was little organized lobbying for anyone except the business world and very wealthy. This has led to a lowering of taxes. Since the government normally reallocates wealth through taxation and redistribution and this has not been happening as much, gradually money has been pooling at the very top of the economic pyramid. Since the book was written, several state governments have dealt significant setbacks to organized labor and recently the NY Times had an article about how Obama is mending bridges with Wall Street. The book is worthwhile for anyone attempting to understand politics and the state of the economy today. It pairs well with Aftershock, by Robert Reich. Reich describes the effects of highly concentrated wealth whereas Hacker and Pierson explain how the wealth got to be so concentrated.