How The Poor Can Save Capitalism
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How the Poor Can Save Capitalism
Author: John Hope Bryant
language: en
Publisher: Berrett-Koehler Publishers
Release Date: 2014-06-02
A successful entrepreneur and nonprofit founder shares his plan of action to help the American economy by assisting America’s poor. John Hope Bryant, successful self-made businessman and founder of the nonprofit Operation HOPE, says business and political leaders are ignoring the one force that could truly re-energize the stalled American economy: the poor. If we give poor communities the right tools, policies, and inspiration, he argues, they will be able to lift themselves up into the middle class and become a new generation of customers and entrepreneurs. Raised in poverty-stricken, gang-infested South Central Los Angeles, Bryant saw firsthand how our institutions have abandoned the poor. He details how business loans, home loans, and financial investments have vanished from their communities. After decades of deprivation, the poor lack bank accounts, decent credit scores, and any real firsthand experience of how a healthy free enterprise system functions. Bryant radically redefines the meaning of poverty and wealth. (It’s not just a question of finances; it’s values too.) He exposes why attempts to aid the poor so far have fallen short and offers a way forward: the HOPE Plan, a series of straightforward, actionable steps to build financial literacy and expand opportunity so that the poor can join the middle class. Fully seventy percent of the American economy is driven by consumer spending, but more and more people have too much month at the end of their money. John Hope Bryant aspires to “expand the philosophy of free enterprise to include all of God's children” and create a thriving economy that works not just for the one percent or even the ninety-nine percent but for the one hundred percent. This is a free enterprise approach to solving the problem of poverty and raising up a new America. “Economic immobility is the defining issue of America in the twenty-first century. John Hope Bryant makes an engaging case for why we must make our economy work for everyone. How the Poor Can Save Capitalism is a must-read for business leaders, policymakers, and community leaders who want to make the American Dream a reality for all our children.” —Ben Jealous, former CEO, NAACP “John and I want the same things. And the goals of this book are the same goals of my Rebuild the Dream campaign. He has provided the road map to economic recovery for this country at a time when economic inequality is at its peak. I, for one, will be following the steps laid out in the HOPE Plan.” —Van Jones, former Presidential Advisor to Barack Obama and current host of CNN’s Crossfire
Saving Capitalism
From the author of Aftershock and The Work of Nations, his most important book to date—a myth-shattering breakdown of how the economic system that helped make America so strong is now failing us, and what it will take to fix it. Perhaps no one is better acquainted with the intersection of economics and politics than Robert B. Reich, and now he reveals how power and influence have created a new American oligarchy, a shrinking middle class, and the greatest income inequality and wealth disparity in eighty years. He makes clear how centrally problematic our veneration of the “free market” is, and how it has masked the power of moneyed interests to tilt the market to their benefit. Reich exposes the falsehoods that have been bolstered by the corruption of our democracy by huge corporations and the revolving door between Washington and Wall Street: that all workers are paid what they’re “worth,” that a higher minimum wage equals fewer jobs, and that corporations must serve shareholders before employees. He shows that the critical choices ahead are not about the size of government but about who government is for: that we must choose not between a free market and “big” government but between a market organized for broadly based prosperity and one designed to deliver the most gains to the top. Ever the pragmatist, ever the optimist, Reich sees hope for reversing our slide toward inequality and diminished opportunity when we shore up the countervailing power of everyone else. Passionate yet practical, sweeping yet exactingly argued, Saving Capitalism is a revelatory indictment of our economic status quo and an empowering call to civic action.
Accountable
"Uses a combination of great stories and thoughtful analysis to suggest that we must find a way to change the purpose of our corporations if we are to build a society that works for all of us. Rebecca M. Henderson, John & Natty McArthur University Professor at Harvard University "Fresh, balanced, highly readable and deeply informed" John Pepper, former Chairman and CEO of P&G "Thought-provoking and insightful, Accountable offers a pragmatic and original roadmap to transform capitalism into a system that's more inclusive, sustainable, and just." Dr. Rajiv J. Shah, President of The Rockefeller Foundation Capitalism is failing and the tools we are relying on to fix it - corporate social responsibility, divestment, impact investing, and government control - are only making things worse. -Chevron boasts about the $50 million per year it spends on renewable energy whilst it spends 200 times that on oil exploration -Goldman Sachs touts its 10,000 Women initiative but its board ranks 358th out of the Fortune 500 for gender diversity and women earn 55% less than men do on average By focusing on corporations rather than people, we've put our faith in empty trends and brand-focused window-dressing. Why should those responsible for our current crisis be trusted to fix it? In Accountable, authors Michael O'Leary and Warren Valdmanis offer a blueprint for everyone to take responsibility for using their economic power as consumers, as investors, as employees, and as voters to trigger a fundamental shift away from an economy that is unethical, unfair, and destructive to our environment and institutions. Their investigation cuts through the tired dogma of current economic thinking to reveal a hopeful truth: if we can make our corporations accountable to a deeper purpose, we can make capitalism both prosperous and good. Trenchant and gripping, this is an indispensable guide and call to action for citizens to take control of our economic power and hold corporations to a higher standard.