Why we can't afford the rich exposes the unjust and dysfunctional mechanisms that allow the top 1% to siphon off wealth produced by others. With an updated Afterword, Andrew Sayer shows how the rich worldwide have increased their ability to hide their wealth, create indebtedness and expand their political influence.
Inhaltsverzeichnis
Introduction;
Part I: A Guide to Wealth Extraction;
Slippery Terms and Vital Distinctions;
For rent . . . for what?;
Interest . . . for what? or We need to talk about usury;
Profit from production: or capitalists and rentiers: what's the difference?;
Other ways to skin a cat;
Don't the Rich Create Jobs? - and other objections;
Part II: Putting the Rich in Context: What Determines What People Get?;
To what do we owe our wealth?: Our dependence on the commons;
So what determines pay?;
The myth of the level playing field;
Part III: How the Rich Got Richer: Their Part in the Crisis;
The roots of the crisis;
Key winners;
Summing up: the crisis and the return of the rentiers;
Part IV: Rule by the Rich, for the Rich;
Silent power, pol donations lattice of influence;
Hiding it;
Illegal? + poachers;
What about philanthropy?;
Plutonomy;
Part V: Ill-gotten and Ill-spent: From Consumption to Ill-Being and CO2;
Spending it;
Global warming trumps everything;
Conclusion: back to basics - what kind of economy do we need?.
