Free Lunch: How the Wealthiest Americans Enrich Themselves at Government Expense (and Stick You with the Bill) - Hardcover

Johnston, David Cay

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1591841917 ISBN 13: 9781591841913

Publisher: Portfolio Hardcover, 2007

Synopsis

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.

About this title

About the Author:

David Cay Johnston, a Pulitzer Prize?winning reporter for The New York Times, has hunted down a killer the police failed to catch, exposed LAPD abuses, caused two television stations to lose their licenses over news manipulations, and revealed Donald Trump?s true net worth. He has uncovered so many tax dodges that he has been called the ?de facto chief tax enforcement officer of the United States.?

His last book, Perfectly Legal, was a New York Times bestseller and honored as Book of the Year by the journalism organization Investigative Reporters and Editors. Over his forty-year career he has won many other honors, including a George Polk Award.

From AudioFile:

Here's a shocking novel with an amazing plot. Donald Trump, Ken Lay, and George Steinbrenner all conspire to siphon billions of dollars from the American middle class. Wait--it's not a novel! It's all true! Hang on to your wallets as NEW YORK TIMES reporter David Cay Johnston documents the various "corporate welfare" ploys used by sports franchises, retailers, megacorps, and anybody else who knows how to parlay a bad balance sheet into political patronage. The rich don't just get richer--they get way richer. Johnston narrates his own work with a newscaster's tone and perspective. His direct tone keeps listeners engaged throughout. R.W.S. © AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine

About this edition

• Publisher: Portfolio Hardcover
• Publication date: 2007
• ISBN 10: 1591841917
• ISBN 13: 9781591841913
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 352