John Kenneth Galbraith
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- May 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780691171654
- eISBN:
- 9781400889020
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691171654.001.0001
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Behavioural Economics
The world has become increasingly separated into the haves and have nots. This book shows how a contented class—not the privileged few but the socially and economically advantaged majority—defend ...
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The world has become increasingly separated into the haves and have nots. This book shows how a contented class—not the privileged few but the socially and economically advantaged majority—defend their comfortable status at a cost. Middle-class voting against regulation and increased taxation that would remedy pressing social ills has created a culture of immediate gratification, leading to complacency and hampering long-term progress. Only economic disaster, military action, or the eruption of an angry underclass seem capable of changing the status quo. A groundbreaking critique, the book shows how the complacent majority captures the political process and determines economic policy.Less
The world has become increasingly separated into the haves and have nots. This book shows how a contented class—not the privileged few but the socially and economically advantaged majority—defend their comfortable status at a cost. Middle-class voting against regulation and increased taxation that would remedy pressing social ills has created a culture of immediate gratification, leading to complacency and hampering long-term progress. Only economic disaster, military action, or the eruption of an angry underclass seem capable of changing the status quo. A groundbreaking critique, the book shows how the complacent majority captures the political process and determines economic policy.
