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.
If youre concerned about congressional earmarks, stock options (especially backdated options), hedge fund tax breaks, abuse of eminent domain, subsidies to sports teams, K Street lobbyists, the state of our health-care system, to say nothing of the cavernous gap between rich and poor, youll read this fine bookas I didwith a growing sense of outrage. "Free Lunch" makes it clear that its high time for We the People to stand up and be counted. John C. Bogle, founder and former chairman, The Vanguard Group With clarity, conciseness, and cool, fact-saturated analysis, Mr. Johnston, the premier investigative reporter on how industry and commerce shift risks and costs to taxpayers, sends the ultimate message to all Americanseither we demand to have a say or we will continue to pay, pay, and pay. Ralph Nader
aIf youare concerned about congressional earmarks, stock options (especially backdated options), hedge fund tax breaks, abuse of eminent domain, subsidies to sports teams, K Street lobbyists, the state of our health-care system, to say nothing of the cavernous gap between rich and poor, youall read this fine bookaas I didawith a growing sense of outrage. "Free Lunch" makes it clear that itas high time for aWe the Peoplea to stand up and be counted.a aJohn C. Bogle, founder and former chairman, The Vanguard Group aWith clarity, conciseness, and cool, fact-saturated analysis, Mr. Johnston, the premier investigative reporter on how industry and commerce shift risks and costs to taxpayers, sends the ultimate message to all Americansaeither we demand to have a say or we will continue to pay, pay, and pay.a aRalph Nader
aA journalistic missile launched against the myth that those who mooch off the government are mostly on the lower rungsa] This is a provocative, highly readable and well-documented work.a a"South Florida Sun-Sentinel" aAs an investigative reporter, Johnston is a big-game hunter. He skewers popular plutocrats like Buffett, digs up the dirt on unsavory sources of Paris Hiltonas fortune and details Apple executive Steve Jobsas backdated stock options thievery.a a"The Nation" aIf youare concerned about congressional earmarks, hedge fund tax breaks, subsidies to sports teams, K Street lobbyists, the state of our health-care system, to say nothing of the cavernous gap between rich and poor, youall read this fine bookaas I didawith a growing sense of outrage.a aJohn C. Bogle, founder and former chairman, The Vanguard Group aJohnston is an indefatigable reporter whose work recalls the muckraking epics of the Progressive era.a a"Portland Oregonian" aAn engaging look at how the superrich consistentlya and outrageouslyarely on public handouts while preaching about free markets and wasteful entitlement programs all the way to the bank.a a"Mother Jones"
?A journalistic missile launched against the myth that those who mooch off the government are mostly on the lower rungs? This is a provocative, highly readable and well-documented work.? ?"South Florida Sun-Sentinel" ?As an investigative reporter, Johnston is a big-game hunter. He skewers popular plutocrats like Buffett, digs up the dirt on unsavory sources of Paris Hilton's fortune and details Apple executive Steve Jobs's backdated stock options thievery.? ?"The Nation" ?If you?re concerned about congressional earmarks, hedge fund tax breaks, subsidies to sports teams, K Street lobbyists, the state of our health-care system, to say nothing of the cavernous gap between rich and poor, you?ll read this fine book?as I did?with a growing sense of outrage.? ?John C. Bogle, founder and former chairman, The Vanguard Group ?Johnston is an indefatigable reporter whose work recalls the muckraking epics of the Progressive era.? ?"Portland Oregonian"
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.
**
From Publishers Weekly
Johnston, a New York Times investigative reporter, has spent his 40-year career exposing collusion between government officials and private sector entities as they enrich the rich and ignore consequences for middle-class laborers and the poor. In Perfectly Legal , he focused on hidden inequities in the tax system. This volume is a broader examination of collusion and unfairness, ranging from subsidies for professional sports stadiums to secret payouts to multinational corporate chief executives. At the base of Johnston's journalistic indictment are the highly paid lobbyists working Congress, state legislatures, county commissions, city councils and government regulatory agencies. Johnston also cites the culpability of George W. Bush in his roles as professional baseball team owner, Texas governor and U.S. president, and targets well-known tycoons such as Donald Trump, Warren Buffett and George Steinbrenner as well as lesser-recognized beneficiaries who own golf courses and insurance companies and energy consortiums. Heroes appear occasionally, such as Remy Welling, an Internal Revenue Service investigator who blew the whistle on improper tax breaks for the wealthy and lost her job. Johnston writes compellingly to show how government-private sector collusion affects the middle class and the poor. (Jan.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Review
If youre concerned about congressional earmarks, stock options (especially backdated options), hedge fund tax breaks, abuse of eminent domain, subsidies to sports teams, K Street lobbyists, the state of our health-care system, to say nothing of the cavernous gap between rich and poor, youll read this fine bookas I didwith a growing sense of outrage. "Free Lunch" makes it clear that its high time for We the People to stand up and be counted.
John C. Bogle, founder and former chairman, The Vanguard Group
With clarity, conciseness, and cool, fact-saturated analysis, Mr. Johnston, the premier investigative reporter on how industry and commerce shift risks and costs to taxpayers, sends the ultimate message to all Americanseither we demand to have a say or we will continue to pay, pay, and pay.
Ralph Nader
aIf youare concerned about congressional earmarks, stock options (especially backdated options), hedge fund tax breaks, abuse of eminent domain, subsidies to sports teams, K Street lobbyists, the state of our health-care system, to say nothing of the cavernous gap between rich and poor, youall read this fine bookaas I didawith a growing sense of outrage. "Free Lunch" makes it clear that itas high time for aWe the Peoplea to stand up and be counted.a
aJohn C. Bogle, founder and former chairman, The Vanguard Group
aWith clarity, conciseness, and cool, fact-saturated analysis, Mr. Johnston, the premier investigative reporter on how industry and commerce shift risks and costs to taxpayers, sends the ultimate message to all Americansaeither we demand to have a say or we will continue to pay, pay, and pay.a
aRalph Nader
aA journalistic missile launched against the myth that those who mooch off the government are mostly on the lower rungsa] This is a provocative, highly readable and well-documented work.a
a"South Florida Sun-Sentinel"
aAs an investigative reporter, Johnston is a big-game hunter. He skewers popular plutocrats like Buffett, digs up the dirt on unsavory sources of Paris Hiltonas fortune and details Apple executive Steve Jobsas backdated stock options thievery.a
a"The Nation"
aIf youare concerned about congressional earmarks, hedge fund tax breaks, subsidies to sports teams, K Street lobbyists, the state of our health-care system, to say nothing of the cavernous gap between rich and poor, youall read this fine bookaas I didawith a growing sense of outrage.a
aJohn C. Bogle, founder and former chairman, The Vanguard Group
aJohnston is an indefatigable reporter whose work recalls the muckraking epics of the Progressive era.a
a"Portland Oregonian"
aAn engaging look at how the superrich consistentlya and outrageouslyarely on public handouts while preaching about free markets and wasteful entitlement programs all the way to the bank.a
a"Mother Jones"
?A journalistic missile launched against the myth that those who mooch off the government are mostly on the lower rungs? This is a provocative, highly readable and well-documented work.?
?"South Florida Sun-Sentinel"
?As an investigative reporter, Johnston is a big-game hunter. He skewers popular plutocrats like Buffett, digs up the dirt on unsavory sources of Paris Hilton's fortune and details Apple executive Steve Jobs's backdated stock options thievery.?
?"The Nation"
?If you?re concerned about congressional earmarks, hedge fund tax breaks, subsidies to sports teams, K Street lobbyists, the state of our health-care system, to say nothing of the cavernous gap between rich and poor, you?ll read this fine book?as I did?with a growing sense of outrage.?
?John C. Bogle, founder and former chairman, The Vanguard Group
?Johnston is an indefatigable reporter whose work recalls the muckraking epics of the Progressive era.?
?"Portland Oregonian"