Rigged: How Globalization and the Rules of the Modern Economy Were Structured to Make the Rich Richer

Synopsis

There Has Been An Enormous Upward Redistribution Of Income In The United States In The Last Four Decades. In His Most Recent Book, Baker Shows That This Upward Redistribution Was Not The Result Of Globalization And The Natural Workings Of The Market. Rather, It Was The Result Of Conscious Policies That Were Designed To Put Downward Pressure On The Wages Of Ordinary Workers While Protecting And Enhancing The Incomes Of Those At The Top. Baker Explains How Rules On Trade, Patents, Copyrights, Corporate Governance, And Macroeconomic Policy Were Rigged To Make Income Flow Upward. Introduction: Trading In Myths -- The Landscape Of Inequality -- The Macroeconomics Of Upward Redistribution -- The Financial Sector: Ground Zero For High Incomes And High Waste -- The Old Technology And Inequality Scam: The Story Of Patents And Copyrights -- Out Of Control At The Top: Ceo Pay In The Private And Public Sectors -- The Political Economy Of An Anti-rent-seeking Equality Agenda -- Rewriting The Narrative On Economic Policy. By Dean Baker. Includes Bibliographical References (pages 219-242).