Plutocrats (book)

This article is about the 2012 book. For the concept of extreme wealth, see plutocracy.
Plutocrats: The Rise of the New Global Super Rich and the Fall of Everyone Else
First edition (UK)
AuthorChrystia Freeland
LanguageEnglish
PublisherAllen Lane (UK)Penguin Books (US)
Publication date
October 1, 2012
AwardsLionel Gelber Prize (2013)
National Business Book Award (2013)
ISBN9781846142529
OCLC780480424
305.5/234
LC ClassHB251 .F74 2012

Plutocrats: The Rise of the New Global Super Rich and the Fall of Everyone Else is a book about economic inequality by Chrystia Freeland, first published in 2012. In 2013, it won the Lionel Gelber Prize and the National Business Book Award.[1][2]

Content

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Plutocrats discusses the lives of ultra high net-worth individuals. The book divides the very wealthy into three main groups—Russian oligarchs, Wall Street financial professionals, and American business executives—and devotes considerable attention to how the third group got so rich.[3] It argues that the very rich are often products of fortuitous circumstances,[4] but nonetheless take themselves to deserve their wealth because contemporary plutocrats tend to earn money by working;[5] however, the book does not reach a position one way or another about whether contemporary wealth is meritocratic,[4] nor does it investigate inherited wealth.[6]

Reception

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A review in The Guardian, while generally praising Plutocrats, noted that it was "short of solutions" to the problems it identifies.[7] According to Anthony Gould, Plutocrats argues that the American Dream is "apparently over", because American society no longer rewards entrepreneurs who produce useful or valuable goods and instead favours financial chicanery as a way to get rich.[8]

Justin Trudeau reportedly met Freeland for the first time at a book signing for Plutocrats in Toronto.[9] The book convinced Trudeau to ask Freeland to join the Liberal Party as a candidate.[9] Trudeau subsequently became Prime Minister and appointed Freeland to his cabinet, initially as Minister of International Trade and eventually Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance.

References

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  1. ^ Barber, John (March 25, 2013). "Plutocrats author Chrystia Freeland wins $15,000 book prize for international affairs". The Globe and Mail. Archived from the original on December 24, 2020. Retrieved December 24, 2020.
  2. ^ "Chrystia Freeland's Plutocrats wins National Business Book Award". The Globe and Mail. May 28, 2013. Retrieved December 24, 2020.
  3. ^ Johnston, Donald J. (March 2013). "Return of the Robber Barons". Literary Review of Canada. Retrieved December 24, 2020.
  4. ^ a b Good, Alex (January 3, 2013). "Plutocrats: The Rise of the New Global Super Rich and the Fall of Everyone Else". Quill & Quire. Archived from the original on December 24, 2020. Retrieved December 24, 2020.
  5. ^ Sorensen, Chris (November 1, 2012). "Plutocrats: The Rise of the New Global Super Rich and the Fall of Everyone ELse". Maclean's. Retrieved December 24, 2020.
  6. ^ Cooper, Richard N. (April 17, 2013). "Plutocrats: The Rise of the New Global Super-Rich and the Fall of Everyone Else". Foreign Affairs (May/June 2013). ISSN 0015-7120. Retrieved December 24, 2020.
  7. ^ Birrell, Ian (November 1, 2012). "Plutocrats: The Rise of the New Global Super Rich by Chrystia Freeland – review". The Guardian. Archived from the original on December 24, 2020. Retrieved December 24, 2020.
  8. ^ Gould, Anthony M. (2014). "Review of Plutocrats: the Rise and Fall of the New Global Super-Rich and the Fall of Everyone Else". Relations Industrielles/Industrial Relations. 69 (4): 849. ISSN 0034-379X. JSTOR 24641869.
  9. ^ a b Bryden, Joan (August 23, 2020). "Freeland's 'Plutocrats' book showcases her views on taxes, deficits, joblessness". Toronto Star. Archived from the original on December 24, 2020. Retrieved December 24, 2020.
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