Saving Capitalism: For the Many, Not the Few Paperback – Illustrated, May 3, 2016

The book is extremely rich on both the details of inequality in the USA and the legislative enactments that have made it possible.When it comes to what to do about it, Reich speaks of countervailing power (within a capitalist framework, as the title makes clear). He believes that different enactments could indeed reduce inequality without the need to get into left-right arguments about the appropriate size of government or even any debate about a possible shift towards socialism. For example, he says in Chapter 17 ('The Threat to Capitalism') that 'Americans have always tended to choose pragmatism over ideology'... {that} whenever capitalism has before reached points of crisis, we have not opted for communism or fascism or any other grand scheme. Again and again we have saved capitalism from its own excesses by making necessary corrections'.For a book published in 2015, Chapter 19 ('Restoring Countervailing Power') is very percipient, reading ahead of time the populism that propelled Trump to the Presidency in 2016. He is clear that the countervailing power will not come from the Democratic Party until it re-invents itself, reminding us that during the election campaign big business very much favoured Clinton over the anti-establishment stance of most Republican front-runners (including Trump of course).Whether the protests that started the day after Trump's inauguration signal the new beginnings of an effective countervailing power remain to be seen. Quite appropriately, those protests were triggered by Trump's misogynist views. But will these and future broader-based protests be enough to push capitalism back into (???) a progressive populist direction? Or will the clash lead to a bigger government role and an adoption of socialist practice that Reich seems to believe could not be democratic (for reasons that he does not discuss in this book despite his strong support for Bernie Sanders)?Reich provides us a wealth of invaluable information but doesn't help us to identify the (within capitalism) that will change the thirty-year drift towards ever greater inequality and now with Trump, the rush towards fascism.

This book is well-written and very informative. It says that the invisible hand of the marketplace is connected to a wealthy and financially muscular person who exerts a lot of influence. Some people extol freedom without acknowledging the growing imbalance of power in our society. Here are some of the additional things the author of this book mentions: Permitting drug companies to prolong their patents has kept prescription drug prices higher in the United States than in Canada and much of Europe. Those who owned large amounts of land saw their wealth increase dramatically even if they did nothing but rent the land. What is labeled by some as the “free market” is not truly completely free when sometimes in some instances people have essentially no choice. Some people believe that the economic system is rigged. It is difficult to hold to the belief that people are worth what they’re paid when more and more individuals who are working Full-Time do not get paid enough to lift their families and themselves out of poverty, while another group has so much wealth, much of it inherited. Presently 43% of children born into poverty in the United States will remain in poverty for their entire lives. The author of the book mentioned that Thomas Paine wrote Agrarian Justice published in 1797. He said that private property was a human contrivance. The Earth was considered “common property” when people were hunters and gatherers. But with the coming of agriculture, property took the form of the right to exclude others. The author of the book mentions that the market is a human creation based on rules human beings devise.

This is an excellent overview of how the market is defined and managed by the government, and how the rules managing the market have been subtly altered over the years to benefit the top 1 percent (crony capitalism). The book then goes over potential solutions to the problem, some fixing/reverting the rules and others addressing the symptoms (minimum wage, unions).Interestingly, the last 2 chapters of the book discusses a completely unrelated problem that presents an even bigger danger to income inequality. The rise of automation has been pushing manufacturing jobs to service and making "problem solving" jobs more and more of a premium. In fact, the real danger is that eventually all of the manufacturing and much of the service jobs will be completely crowded out by automation. The only solution proposed for this eventuality is to provide a minimum standard living allowance to all Americans.Personally, I find it a little ironic that some of the solutions proposed for crony capitalism (minimum wage, unions) will tend to increase the cost of labor and exacerbate the presumably more dangerous automation issue. I also do not share the authors belief that it would be in any way a good thing to provide all Americans unconditionally a minimum standard of living with limited incentive to generate more income. In general, I think humans need some kind of purpose and structure in there lives. There are exceptions, like the authors suggested "starving artist", but for the majority I think such an environment would have a very negative social impact. Personally, I think if it really came to this a better solution would be to tie that income to some form of government employment, not necessarily because I think it will generate additional productivity (I'm not sure that it will) but because I think it will ultimately provide benefits to both the individual and society.Regardless, even though I disagree with some of the authors solutions, the book had me thinking for days on the topic after I finished reading making it more than worth my time.

Incredibly deep insights into the most dysfunctional country in the developed world, which still tries to hail itself as a beacon of democracy (!) and has its fingers in the pie of every geopolitical disaster of the last fifty years. The statements made can be researched and are backed by facts. The reading is captivating and distressing at the same time. A great professional has written a state-of-the art reminder of the need of ethics to come at last to be applied to a nation of lost people.

Saving Capitalism: For The Many, Not The Few is a timely and provocative book by Robert B. Reich, a former US Secretary of Labor and a professor of public policy at the University of California, Berkeley. In this book, Reich challenges the conventional wisdom that the free market is the best guarantor of freedom, prosperity and democracy. He argues that the market is not a natural or neutral force, but a human creation that reflects and reinforces the power of those who shape its rules and institutions. He exposes how the wealthy and influential have rigged the system to their advantage, creating a new oligarchy that undermines the common good and threatens the future of the American experiment.Reich does not advocate for abandoning capitalism, but for saving it from its own excesses and distortions. He calls for restoring the countervailing power of the many - the workers, consumers, small businesses, citizens and public servants - who can balance and check the power of the few. He proposes a series of reforms to make the market more responsive to the needs and preferences of the majority, such as raising the minimum wage, expanding the earned income tax credit, strengthening antitrust laws, reforming campaign finance, regulating Wall Street, investing in education and infrastructure, and expanding social security and health care.Reich writes with clarity, passion and conviction, drawing on his extensive knowledge and experience as an economist, a policymaker and a public intellectual. He combines empirical evidence, historical analysis, moral arguments and personal anecdotes to make his case compelling and accessible. He also anticipates and addresses some of the common objections and criticisms that his proposals might face from different ideological perspectives. He does not claim to have all the answers or to offer a silver bullet solution, but he invites readers to join him in a constructive dialogue about how to make capitalism work for the many, not the few.Saving Capitalism: For The Many, Not The Few is a must-read for anyone who cares about the state of American democracy and economy in the 21st century. It is a book that challenges us to rethink our assumptions, to question our complacency, and to act on our responsibility as citizens. It is a book that offers hope and inspiration for a more fair and sustainable future.

There’s no doubt we are in the edge between utopia and distopia and the key to resolve the question is how democracy will remodel capitalism.

It's a clear idea of what are the real forces that governs our political activities. Though it has been written by a USA perspective, the general frame reflects perfectly the Brazilian reality too.

Really great read. I think a lot of people may dismiss Robert Reich after hearing that he served in Bill Clinton's administration, supported Bernie Sanders in 2016 and is regarded as a very liberal economics and public policy professor. In this book he clearly demonstrates he believes the capitalist, free market society to be the most beneficial to humanity. However his arguments are based on the idea that the current rules regulating said market are currently skewed massively in the favour of major corporations, and those that set the rules are supporting this notion, whether willingly or not.For people without an economics background this book provides a relatively simple description, with relevant model examples, of these cases, and a limited number of solutions. If i'm . honest from what i hear, a lot of his other books seem to describe exactly the same thing, so i'm going to be cautious in choosing to buy any of his future books.