Synopses & Reviews
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.
Review
A journalistic missile launched against the myth that those who mooch off the government are mostly on the lower rungs
This is a provocative, highly readable and well-documented work.
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
As an investigative reporter, Johnston is a big-game hunter. He skewers popular plutocrats like Buffett, digs up the dirt on unsavory sources of Paris Hiltons fortune and details Apple executive Steve Jobss backdated stock options thievery.
The Nation
If youre concerned about congressional earmarks, hedge fund tax breaks, subsidies to sports teams, K Street lobbyists, the state of our health-care system, to say nothing of the cavernous gap between rich and poor, youll read this fine bookas I didwith a growing sense of outrage.
John C. Bogle, founder and former chairman, The Vanguard Group
Johnston is an indefatigable reporter whose work recalls the muckraking epics of the Progressive era.
Portland Oregonian
An engaging look at how the superrich consistently and outrageouslyrely on public handouts while preaching about free markets and wasteful entitlement programs all the way to the bank.
Mother Jones
Synopsis
Bestselling author and acclaimed journalist Johnston shows how for the past three decades, the government offered favorable treatment to certain groups. But for every subsidy and regulatory change that helps one person, another pays the price.
Synopsis
Free Lunch answers the great mystery of our time: How did our strong and growing economy give way to job uncertainty, debt, bankruptcy, and fear for millions of Americans? Acclaimed reporter David Cay Johnston reveals how government policies and spending have reached deep into the wallets of the many to benefit the top 1% of the wealthiest.
He shows exactly who has been getting free lunches from the government?from $100 million to Warren Buffett, to $1.3 billion to the owners of the Yankees and Mets. But of course there's really no such thing as a free lunch. The taxpayer always picks up the bill. With his in depth 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.
About the Author
David Cay Johnston, a Pulitzer Prize- winning investigative reporter, recently retired from The New York Times. Over his forty-year career he has won many honors, including a George Polk Award, and has uncovered so many tax dodges that he was called the de facto chief tax enforcement officer of the United States. His two most recent booksFree Lunch and Perfectly Legalwere both New York Times bestsellers.