Chrystia Freeland
Reviewed by Richard N. Cooper
May/June 2013
Article Summary and Author Biography
Freeland, a journalist and editor at Thomson Reuters, examines how a fairly diverse new class of plutocrats came to be and explores some of the consequences and potential implications of its rise.
PUBLISHER
Penguin Press HC, The
YEAR
YEAR
2012
PAGES
PAGES
336 pp.
ISBN
ISBN
1594204098
PRICE
PRICE
$27.95
Income and wealth in the United States today are less evenly distributed than at any time since the 1920s. One result is the emergence of a new class of plutocrats. The phenomenon is not limited to the United States: China, India, Mexico, Russia, the United Kingdom, and other states have witnessed similar changes. Freeland, a journalist and editor at Thomson Reuters, examines how this fairly diverse new class came to be and explores some of the consequences and potential implications of its rise. In a world of mass consumption, successful innovations can result in great wealth, as can any rapid social and political change, at least for those well placed or lucky enough to take advantage of new opportunities. More ominous, individuals can become fabulously wealthy at the expense of other citizens, by securing privileges from powerful government officials -- sometimes through influencing the decision-making process, sometimes through outright bribes or offers of lucrative future employment. Freeland worries about the increasing political influence of the superrich and the growing social distance between them and ordinary people. But she has surprisingly little to say about the most traditional route to plutocratic status: inherited wealth.
Income and wealth in the United States today are less evenly distributed than at any time since the 1920s. One result is the emergence of a new class of plutocrats. The phenomenon is not limited to the United States: China, India, Mexico, Russia, the United Kingdom, and other states have witnessed similar changes. Freeland, a journalist and editor at Thomson Reuters, examines how this fairly diverse new class came to be and explores some of the consequences and potential implications of its rise. In a world of mass consumption, successful innovations can result in great wealth, as can any rapid social and political change, at least for those well placed or lucky enough to take advantage of new opportunities. More ominous, individuals can become fabulously wealthy at the expense of other citizens, by securing privileges from powerful government officials -- sometimes through influencing the decision-making process, sometimes through outright bribes or offers of lucrative future employment. Freeland worries about the increasing political influence of the superrich and the growing social distance between them and ordinary people. But she has surprisingly little to say about the most traditional route to plutocratic status: inherited wealth.
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