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How the Wealthiest Americans Enrich Themselves at Government Expense (and Stick You with the Bill)
Portfolio Hardcover
January 2008
On Sale: December 27, 2007
352 pages ISBN: 1591841917 EAN: 9781591841913 Hardcover
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Non-Fiction
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.
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