Age of Greed: The Triumph of Finance and the Decline of America, 1970 to the Present

A vivid history of the recent economics of greed in the United States. This book explores how the pursuit of immense personal wealth has led to economic inequity and instability in the country. 

“A fascinating and deeply disturbing tale of hypocrisy, corruption, and insatiable greed. . . . A much-needed reminder of just how we got into the mess we’re in.”—The New York Review of Books

Age of Greed shows how the single-minded and selfish pursuit of immense personal wealth has been on the rise in the United States. Economic journalist Jeff Madrick tells this story through incisive profiles of the individuals responsible for this dramatic shift in our country’s fortunes, from the architects of the free-market economic philosophy (such as Milton Friedman and Alan Greenspan) to the politicians and businessmen (including Nixon, Reagan, Boesky, and Soros) who put it into practice. The stories detail how a movement initially conceived as a moral battle for freedom instead brought about some of our nation's most pressing economic problems, including the intense economic inequity and instability America suffers from today.

This is an indispensible guide to understanding the 1 percent.