Wealth

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             Wealth and Democracy turns to the history of Britain and other leading world economic powers to examine the symptoms that signaled their declines-speculative finance, mounting international debt, record wealth, income polarization, and disgruntled politics-signs that we recognize in America at the start of the twenty-first century. In a time of national crisis, Phillips worries that the growing parallels suggest the tide may already be turning for us all. .
             Gregory McNamee reviewed Kevin Philips Wealth and Democracy and found that the book "examined cycles of economic growth and decline from the founding days of the republic to the recent collapse of technology stocks, Phillips dispels notions of trickle-down wealth creation, pricks holes in speculative bubbles, and decries the ever-increasing "financialization" of the economy--all of which, he argues, have served to reduce the well-being of ordinary Americans and government alike. Highly readable for all its charts and graphs, Phillips's book offers a refreshing--and, of course, controversial--blend of economic history and social criticism. His conclusions won't please all readers, but just about everyone who comes to his pages will feel hackles rising". (Gregory McNamee) .
             The book is like Gregory Mcnamee said highly readable, it is basically a history of the silver spoon that predicts Republican greed will be America's downfall. When it comes to doing the greatest good for the fewest number, he writes, "The world has no other political party with anything like the same record over the last century and a half." (Phillips) He is a big believer in political cycles, since he made his career predicting one. He sees American history as one long cycle of boom and reform, alternating between "the avid businessman's pursuit and the populist complaint."(Phillips) When the economy swells, the rich grab as much as they can; when it goes south, the little guys rise up to take something back.