Chrystia Freeland

“Studded with numbers and economic data…[Plutocrats] is as complete a work of economic journalism as one could hope for. More surgeon than writer, Freeland has dissected the dynamics of power in this globalized, gilded age and plopped the viscera before us. It’s not a pretty sight. This is the book that 100% of the 99% should read, if they want to better know the forces battering them into eternal penury.”—National Post

In the last few decades what it means to be rich has changed dramatically. Forget the 1%; it’s the wealthiest .01% who are fast outpacing the rest of us. Today’s colossal fortunes are amassed by the diligent toiling of smart, perceptive businessmen who see themselves as deserving victors in a cutthroat international competition.

Cracking open this tight-knit world is Chrystia Freeland, an acclaimed business journalist. At ease in Davos or Dubai, Freeland has reported on the lives and minds of these new super-elites for nearly decade. Grounding her interviews in the economics and history of modern capitalism, she provides examples of the new wealth and its consequences. She showcases the $3 million birthday party of a New York financier months before the financial meltdown; details the closed-door 2005 SEC meeting where the US government allowed investment banks to write their own regulatory laws; and tells how the Bank of Canada’s Mark Carney became a key figure in the central battle between the plutocracy and the rest of us.