Free Lunch: How the Wealthiest Americans Enrich Themselves at Government Expense (and Stick You with the Bill)
by: David Cay Johnston
List Price: $24.95
Prices subject to change.
Price: $15.72
You Save: $9.23 (37%)Prices subject to change.
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Product Description:
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 todays 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 lunchesbut of course theres no such thing as a free lunch, and someone (you, the taxpayer) is picking up the bill.
Johnstons 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 Hiltons 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 livesand shows us how we can finally make things better.
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 todays 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 lunchesbut of course theres no such thing as a free lunch, and someone (you, the taxpayer) is picking up the bill.
Johnstons 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 Hiltons 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 livesand shows us how we can finally make things better.
Alternate Versions:
Related Items:
- Perfectly Legal: The Covert Campaign to Rig Our Tax System to Benefit the Super Rich--and Cheat Everybody Else
- The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism
- Gotcha Capitalism: How Hidden Fees Rip You Off Every Day-and What You Can Do About It
- Bad Money: Reckless Finance, Failed Politics, and the Global Crisis of American Capitalism
- The Conscience of a Liberal
- see more
Browse for similar items by category:
Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
Rating: 
- review of the book FREE LUNCH etc, etc.
excellent book.should be read by all conservative Republicans. ha ha. I was somewhat familiar with some of the subjects covered, but the author filled in a number of blanks in my previous level of understanding.The book's complete title provides an accurate description of the contents.
Rating: 
- Free Lunch exposes who's been dining on the taxpayers' tab.
If you've had a vague feeling of hunger while big corporations and big banks feed at the taxpayer buffet like hogs at a trough, this book is for you.Andrew Cay Johnson lays out scenario after scenario where big business/big banks rip us off and leave taxpayers footing the bill.Many of the corporate ripoffs will surprise you.No weird ranting or bizarre conspiracy theories here ... only well-researched journalism and credible facts.
Rating: - Very good reporting on a serious situation, but a very odd proposed solution
David Cay Johnston does some very interesting reporting on the ways in which the quite wealthy use their connections and power to not only protect their wealth, property, and interests, but to shift the costs of even their luxurious lifestyles onto the regular taxpayer - that means you and me.He shows how the rich have gotten fantastically richer since the Reagan years while the people below the top few percent have stagnated or retreated in their financial well-being.Some debate the kind of ... Read More
Rating: - free lunch
excellent book, our elected reps arent reps for us, confirmed for me that bill clinton is worse than george bush. they used to call em traitors.
Rating: - Heated report on how the rich get richer on your dime
Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter David Cay Johnston exposes how the wealthy have used the U.S. government to distort markets, eliminate competition, support lavish lifestyles and appropriate tax dollars. He explains how developers get resorts subsidized, and how big businesses extract huge concessions from cities based on promised benefits that rarely materialize. He details how big sports teams get taxpayers to build palatial stadiums where team owners reap big profits. Johnston also explains that ... Read More
- review of the book FREE LUNCH etc, etc.excellent book.should be read by all conservative Republicans. ha ha. I was somewhat familiar with some of the subjects covered, but the author filled in a number of blanks in my previous level of understanding.The book's complete title provides an accurate description of the contents.
- Free Lunch exposes who's been dining on the taxpayers' tab.If you've had a vague feeling of hunger while big corporations and big banks feed at the taxpayer buffet like hogs at a trough, this book is for you.Andrew Cay Johnson lays out scenario after scenario where big business/big banks rip us off and leave taxpayers footing the bill.Many of the corporate ripoffs will surprise you.No weird ranting or bizarre conspiracy theories here ... only well-researched journalism and credible facts.
- Very good reporting on a serious situation, but a very odd proposed solutionDavid Cay Johnston does some very interesting reporting on the ways in which the quite wealthy use their connections and power to not only protect their wealth, property, and interests, but to shift the costs of even their luxurious lifestyles onto the regular taxpayer - that means you and me.He shows how the rich have gotten fantastically richer since the Reagan years while the people below the top few percent have stagnated or retreated in their financial well-being.Some debate the kind of ... Read More
- free lunchexcellent book, our elected reps arent reps for us, confirmed for me that bill clinton is worse than george bush. they used to call em traitors.
- Heated report on how the rich get richer on your dimePulitzer Prize-winning reporter David Cay Johnston exposes how the wealthy have used the U.S. government to distort markets, eliminate competition, support lavish lifestyles and appropriate tax dollars. He explains how developers get resorts subsidized, and how big businesses extract huge concessions from cities based on promised benefits that rarely materialize. He details how big sports teams get taxpayers to build palatial stadiums where team owners reap big profits. Johnston also explains that ... Read More
