Free Lunch - David Cay Johnston

I don't tend to recommend books until I've actually finished reading the book. =) However, I am in chapter 3 of David Cay Johnston's Free Lunch: How the Wealthiest Americans Enrich Themselves at Government Expense (And Stick You With the Bill). This book is excellent so far.

I feel the wealth disparity is enormous in this country and we can point to certain inequities and policies that foster this. However, this book has really boiled down, with specifics, many of these policies in the collusion of the wealthy with our government policies and some politicians.

One of the eye opening moments for me was where he discusses our economic structure is most like the countries of Brazil, Mexico, and Russia - countries many of us know have extreme corruption that feeds a rich few, impoverished masses, and virtually no or a shrinking middle class. I think for me, though I understand the disparity in our country, when you say we are no better than Mexico, that really opened it up for me.

Also, in this time of economic crisis in our country where we have seen terms like "deregulation" bandied around, this book appears prescient, but really it's what we've put into place and are now paying the reaper for.

I don't know what the rest of the book is going to say, but I recommend it highly from what I've read so far.

Here are some of the editorial notes on this book.
“If you’re concerned about congressional earmarks, stock options (especially backdated options), hedge fund tax breaks, abuse of eminent domain, subsidies to sports teams, K Street lobbyists, the state of our health-care system, to say nothing of the cavernous gap between rich and poor, you’ll read this fine book—as I did—with a growing sense of outrage. Free Lunch makes it clear that it’s high time for ‘We the People’ to stand up and be counted.”
—John C. Bogle, founder and former chairman, The Vanguard Group

The bestselling author of Perfectly Legal returns with a powerful new exposé.

How does a strong and growing economy lend itself to job uncertainty, debt, bankruptcy, and economic fear for a vast number of Americans? Free Lunch provides answers to this great economic mystery of our time, revealing how today’s government policies and spending reach deep into the wallets of the many for the benefit of the wealthy few.

Johnston cuts through the official version of events and shows how, under the guise of deregulation, a whole new set of regulations quietly went into effect— regulations that thwart competition, depress wages, and reward misconduct. From how George W. Bush got rich off a tax increase to a $100 million taxpayer gift to Warren Buffett, Johnston puts a face on all of the dirty little tricks that business and government pull. A lot of people appear to be getting free lunches—but of course there’s no such thing as a free lunch, and someone (you, the taxpayer) is picking up the bill.

Johnston’s many revelations include:
• How we ended up with the most expensive yet inefficient health-care system in the world
• How homeowners’ title insurance became a costly, deceitful, yet almost invisible oligopoly
• How our government gives hidden subsidies for posh golf courses
• How Paris Hilton’s grandfather schemed to retake the family fortune from a charity for poor children
• How the Yankees and Mets owners will collect more than $1.3 billion in public funds

In these instances and many more, Free Lunch shows how the lobbyists and lawyers representing the most powerful 0.1 percent of Americans manipulated our government at the expense of the other 99.9 percent.

With his extraordinary reporting, vivid stories, and sharp analysis, Johnston reveals the forces that shape our everyday economic lives—and shows us how we can finally make things better.

Thanx to DiaLogic for writing about it, otherwise I may not have known of its existence!

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