If you like the vision of Bernie Sanders, but would like to know more and to find out how we can ensure the success for these kinds of changes, this is the book you should have. Goes into more depth and detail, all illustrated with clear charts, and strategies for change. Whether Bernie wins the presidency or not, this is a great roadmap for ending runaway inequality. Recommended. More than a hundred illustrative graphs and charts bring to life the grim reality of economic inequality in Les Leopold's new book. Identifying the wealth gap as a root of nearly all the critical issues we face, from climate change to foreign relations, Leopold doesn't simply identify the problem, he offers the antidote: "Either we wage a large-scale battle for economic, social and environmental justice, or we will witness the continued deterioration of the world we inhabit." Runaway inequality is now America’s most critical economic fact of life. In 1970, the ratio of pay between the top 100 CEOs and the average worker was 45 to 1. Today it is a shocking 829 to one! During that time a new economic philosophy set in that cut taxes, deregulated finance, and trimmed social spending. Those policies set in motion a process that greatly expanded the power of financial interests to accelerate inequality. But how exactly does that happen? Using easy-to-understand charts and graphs, Runaway Inequality explains the process by which corporation after corporation falls victim to systematic wealth extraction by banks, private equity firms, and hedge funds. It reveals how financial strip-mining puts enormous downward pressure on jobs, wages, benefits, and working conditions, while boosting the incomes of financial elites. But Runaway Inequality does more than make sense of our economic plight. It also shows why virtually all the key issues that we face?from climate change to the exploding prison population?are intimately connected to rising economic inequality. Most importantly, Runaway Inequality calls upon us to build a common movement to tackle the sources of increasing income and wealth inequality. As the author makes clear, the problem will not cure itself. It will take enormous energy and dedication to bring economic justice and fairness back to American society.