Reich reveals the myths that have contributed to the undermining of democracy by large corporations: that all workers are paid according to their "value," that raising the minimum wage results in job losses, and that companies must serve the interests of shareholders rather than those of employees.

He shows us that the critical choices we face are not about the size of the state, but for whom the state operates: that we should not choose between the free market and "big" government, but between a market organized to create widespread prosperity and a market designed to funnel most profits to those at the top of the income scale.

The pragmatic and optimistic Reich believes that if we all increase our countervailing power, we can reverse the slide towards inequality and the constriction of opportunities.

No one perhaps understands how economics intersect with politics as well as Robert Reich, and in this book, he reveals how power and influence have created a new oligarchy, shrunk the middle class, and are responsible for the increase in income and wealth inequality over the past eighty years.

Reich makes it absolutely clear that our adulation for the "free market" is problematic, but also that it conceals the power of large economic interests that distort the market to their advantage.

An analysis that debunks myths, shows us how the economic system that helped America become so strong now disappoints us, and suggests what to do to fix it.