Saving Capitalism: For the Many, Not the Few
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- Update Date：2025-09-06
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- Author：Robert B. Reich
- ISBN：1785781766
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Summary
Do you recall a time when the income of a single schoolteacher or baker or salesman or mechanic was enough to buy a home， have two cars， and raise a family？
Robert Reich does – in the 1950s his father sold clothes to factory workers and the family earnt enough to live comfortably。 Today， this middle class is rapidly shrinking: American income inequality and wealth disparity is the greatest it’s been in eighty years。
As Reich， who served in three US administrations， shows， the threat to capitalism is no longer communism or fascism but a steady undermining of the trust modern societies need for growth and stability。 With an exclusive chapter for Icon’s edition， Saving Capitalism is passionate yet practical， sweeping yet exactingly argued， a revelatory indictment of the economic status quo and an empowering call to action。
Robert Reich does – in the 1950s his father sold clothes to factory workers and the family earnt enough to live comfortably。 Today， this middle class is rapidly shrinking: American income inequality and wealth disparity is the greatest it’s been in eighty years。
As Reich， who served in three US administrations， shows， the threat to capitalism is no longer communism or fascism but a steady undermining of the trust modern societies need for growth and stability。 With an exclusive chapter for Icon’s edition， Saving Capitalism is passionate yet practical， sweeping yet exactingly argued， a revelatory indictment of the economic status quo and an empowering call to action。
Reviews
Francois Smith
，
Everybody should read Reich's work。 I admit that some of the issues he raises does not sit well with me， but his explanations provide food for thought。 To all my friends in the United States， you must definitely read this one。 All is not quiet on the Western Front。 If Capitalism fails in the USA， it will have dire consequences for the rest of the world and it is failing in the USA！ Everybody should read Reich's work。 I admit that some of the issues he raises does not sit well with me， but his explanations provide food for thought。 To all my friends in the United States， you must definitely read this one。 All is not quiet on the Western Front。 If Capitalism fails in the USA， it will have dire consequences for the rest of the world and it is failing in the USA！ 。。。more
the real Italian reader
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It basically confirmed my ideas about capitalism， and the extent at which it creates and perpetuates oligarchical tendencies in society。 Overall good book and very informative。
Kent Halloran
，
This is how we can save our economy。
Garrett Raymond
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It’s been a while since I read this book。 While I don’t agree with many of the radical stances Reich has adopted on social media platforms， he is far more responsible and sensible in his books。 What makes this book special is the first third， which basically sets out to prove that there is no such thing as a free market。 He makes his case forcibly and shows that government is necessary for a market to function and moreover， that government will need to make some arbitrary decisions （such as the It’s been a while since I read this book。 While I don’t agree with many of the radical stances Reich has adopted on social media platforms， he is far more responsible and sensible in his books。 What makes this book special is the first third， which basically sets out to prove that there is no such thing as a free market。 He makes his case forcibly and shows that government is necessary for a market to function and moreover， that government will need to make some arbitrary decisions （such as the length of time that intellectual property should be protected for） in this endeavor。 This is the blueprint for arguing against a libertarian， and I say that as someone who leans libertarian in many respects。 The rest of the book is pretty good too。 。。。more
Edward Weiner
，
Robert Reich is a wonderful economist and political thinker with whom I am in complete agreement。 However， I learned almost nothing new from reading this book。 He writes in a repetitive and argumentative style that is very annoying， especially when he is preaching to someone like me who is already a true believer。 Moreover， the book makes no specific recommendations for solutions to the problem -- i。e。， the super-wealthy own the politicians。
Eric Carzon
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As always， a very thoughtful argument， a lot to consider in this book。
Emily
，
Very informative book。 I've heard about these ideas over the last 15 years or so， but I'm not sure if it was from him or other economists。 I originally wanted to learn about the stock market so I'd know where to invest， and now I know more than I ever wanted （and I learned that the stock market is even more corrupt than I'd expected）， and definitely feel more educated。 Some of his solutions seem extreme， but since he's coming from the perspective of helping the greatest number of people， perhaps Very informative book。 I've heard about these ideas over the last 15 years or so， but I'm not sure if it was from him or other economists。 I originally wanted to learn about the stock market so I'd know where to invest， and now I know more than I ever wanted （and I learned that the stock market is even more corrupt than I'd expected）， and definitely feel more educated。 Some of his solutions seem extreme， but since he's coming from the perspective of helping the greatest number of people， perhaps his ideas are valid。 I'd still like to read other perspectives on the economy （and stock market）， but I appreciate his perspective。 I'm sure people discredit his seemingly liberal ideas， but you have to remember he stopped working for a democrat because of the corruption in politics。 I think he truly wants to lessen the divide between the haves and the have nots。I've listened to this book again to mark my favorite quotes， but I just bookmarked so much of the book that I'm not even sure where to start！ One concept Reich shares it that in the future we will not have this divide between Republicans and Democrats， but a divide between the very rich and everyone else。 It's the everyone else that needs to unify and rewrite the rules that the very rich have seized as their own。 "We can make capitalism work for most of us， rather than only for a relative handful。" He suggests that "those who argue for less government， are really arguing for a different government， often one that favors them or their patrons。" He shares that the deregulation in the 1980s was really re-regulation that favored certain groups。 Generally he states that when we hear "free market" it's really not free because there are rules; someone is influencing and writing the rules （generally those groups and individuals with wealth）， the rules （laws） just ought to be different so that they are more fair to more of society。We have complexities now involving intellectual rights instead of tangible things as the past。 Reich addresses unions， campaign donations， lobbying， monopolies （including those with cable/internet）， drug patents and exorbitant costs， foreign pharmacies and protecting US pharmaceutical profits， copyrights， minimum wage， corporate salaries， stock buy-back， stakeholders vs。 shareholders， Monsanto's expensive seeds and lobbying， anti-trust history and laws， insider trading （it's all about who you know）， bankruptcy， bank bailouts， student loans， Wall Street， merit pay for CEOs， employee worth， disparity in pay between CEOs and the average worker （used to be 20x different， now is up to 300x more！ In Australia， it's only 70x more。 And CEOs really that much more valuable？）， benefits of serving on executive boards， working poor， nonworking rich， and more。Many corporations make "clear that corporate power will infringe on individual liberties if the potential financial returns are sufficiently high。""Those who claim to be on the side of freedom while ignoring the growing imbalance of economic and political power in America。 。 。 are not in fact on the side of freedom。 They're on the side of those with the power。""Google and Apple have been spending more money on acquiring and litigating over patents than on doing research and development。 Again， the underlying issue here has nothing to do with whether one prefers the free market or government。 The real question is how government defines property rights， what that process entails， and importantly， who has the most power to determine its outcome。" "By 2014， Google had become the largest corporate lobbyist in the United States。""America spends far more on medication per person than does any other developed country， even though the typical American takes fewer drugs than the typical citizen of other advanced nations。" Before the 1990s， pharmaceuticals couldn't patent products from nature （including vaccines）， so when that changed， patents and prices skyrocketed。 One example Reich shared is Pfeizer's Prevnar vaccine。In 2013， pharmaceutical companies spent more on lobbying than was spent on lobbying for "America's military contracts。""In 2012， [big pharma] shelled out more than $36 million dollars， making it one of the biggest political contributors of all American industry。 The average American is unaware of this entire elaborate system。""When it comes to fiber connections， the United States is behind Sweden， Estonia， South Korea， Hong Kong， Japan， and most other developed countries， putting us 28th worldwide in terms of speed of internet access， and 23rd in terms of cost。" He gives the example of Stockholm， where all the people have high speed internet， and "it costs no more than $28/month。" Reich states that it's the influence of the cable companies "with their deep pockets and lots of political influence" that's keeping us from enjoying better internet。"Wall Street's shenanigans have convinced a large portion of America that the economic game is rigged。 But capitalism depends on trust， without trust， people avoid even sensible economic risks。 They begin thinking that if the big guys can get away with cheating in big ways， small guys， like them， should be able to get away with cheating in small ways causing even more people to distrust the economic system。 People who believe the game is rigged， are easy prey for political demagogues with fast tongues and dumb ideas。 。 。 。 Wall street has blanketed America in a miasma of cynicism。""The rules of the market create incentives for people。 Ideally they motivate people to work and collaborate， be productive and inventive， they help people to achieve the lives they seek。 The rules will also reflect their moral values and judgments about what is good for society， what's worthy and fair。 The rules are not static， they change over time， we hope in ways that most participants consider to be better and fairer。 But this is not always the case。 They can also change because certain people have gained the power to change them for their own benefit。"Well， that's only about half the book， but I think I'm done！ You'll just have to read it to get the rest！ 。。。more
Dustin Neuman
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An Intriguing Analysis of What Ails our Current SystemI enjoyed the book and it gave me many ideas to ponder。 I was aware of only some the facts about what is wrong with capitalism in the United States and the book was informative and insightful。
Emily
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This book provided facts and anecdotes for things I already knew to be true about how the wealthy are the true rulers of the USA。 The ultra wealthy exploit the American people because the government lets them and is controlled by them。 The Author does a great job of explaining complex concepts and provides interesting solutions。Major takeaways:-CEOs and the top 1% are taking the lions share of the wealth production in this country。-Capitalism is not just some efficient and invisible force， but r This book provided facts and anecdotes for things I already knew to be true about how the wealthy are the true rulers of the USA。 The ultra wealthy exploit the American people because the government lets them and is controlled by them。 The Author does a great job of explaining complex concepts and provides interesting solutions。Major takeaways:-CEOs and the top 1% are taking the lions share of the wealth production in this country。-Capitalism is not just some efficient and invisible force， but rather controlled by the essential values of our nation as a whole via politics。-Politics are beholden to the ultra wealthy， who advocate for policies that favor them by discretely using the big bucks。-The lower middle class suffered by losing jobs and wages and they are not prioritized， rather the CEOs and shareholders are prioritized。-CEOs are vastly overpaid （>300% of lowest paid workers）， even when their company is not performing well。-As the wealth of the top 1% grows while the rest stagnate， eventually we will get to a tipping point that the majority will demand change。-Author suggests that we need to start by allocating future gains more evenly in society while still maintaining reasonable perks for individuals to create。-author suggests that there should be a basic income so we can focus on productive things and let the machines do most of the work。 This is interesting and wasn’t what I expected he would suggest。 。。。more
Jacob Landis
，
In a time of extreme and scary partisanship， this book begins with a great concept: that the “free market” versus “government control” level debates are a myth and and a distraction to what is actually happening - that the richest people and corporations are changing the rules to benefit themselves。 Any book that talks about economic policy and proposals while barely using the words “republican” or “democrat” is much needed。
Dani Schi
，
I put off reading this book because while I believed it to have beneficial education， but would be a real slough of a read。 I was pleasantly surprised that my assumption was only 1/2 right。 Interesting insights that were easily digestible。
Maldifassi Giovanni
，
Come molti altri italiani non più giovanissimi ero stato un convintissimo fan di J。F。Kennedy e delle sue idee programmatiche。Questa forte simpatia intellettuale e politica mi aveva portato a idealizzare l’America come il paese nel quale potevano realizzarsi in modo compiuto le promesse dell’Illuminismo。Fine della povertà， lavoro per tutti， Welfare dalla culla alla tomba ，disarmo， pace universale eccetera。Poi però decennio dopo decennio vennero anche Nixon， Reagan la deregulation e il neoliberism Come molti altri italiani non più giovanissimi ero stato un convintissimo fan di J。F。Kennedy e delle sue idee programmatiche。Questa forte simpatia intellettuale e politica mi aveva portato a idealizzare l’America come il paese nel quale potevano realizzarsi in modo compiuto le promesse dell’Illuminismo。Fine della povertà， lavoro per tutti， Welfare dalla culla alla tomba ，disarmo， pace universale eccetera。Poi però decennio dopo decennio vennero anche Nixon， Reagan la deregulation e il neoliberismo più spinti。Il mantra che se lavori di più guadagni di più， che se guadagni di più è perché sei più bravo di chi guadagna di meno e che più diventi ricco， tanta più ricchezza ricadrà su tutta la societàLeggi di più :http://gmaldif-pantarei。blogspot。com/ 。。。more
Cameron
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Most surprised by section on corporate buybacks and CEO power。 Shareholders beware of your meager corporate power！
Gabriela
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The author managed to discuss political and economic issues which are of great importance to today's globalizing world in a very understandable and concise way。 The book explains why whoever has the most wealth makes the rules of the game and that there is no separation between the government and the "free market" - the system of big business and government regulations works together， providing each other with mutual benefits。 Disproportionate distribution of income deprives the middle class wor The author managed to discuss political and economic issues which are of great importance to today's globalizing world in a very understandable and concise way。 The book explains why whoever has the most wealth makes the rules of the game and that there is no separation between the government and the "free market" - the system of big business and government regulations works together， providing each other with mutual benefits。 Disproportionate distribution of income deprives the middle class working people and favors the 1% rich which gives them excessive economic power which， in turn， gives them more political clout。 Took one star because issues such as automatization and UBI were discussed too briefly。 。。。more
Monica Cua
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The only take on capitalism that didnt make me want to barf
Cynthia Schmidt
，
I love Robert Reich and this book summarizes the economic principles he has been espousing for years。
William Glass
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I enjoyed Saving Capitalism as Reich clearly lays out the current challenges facing capitalism。 Since this book was published the data has only become more compelling that the current system is not working the way it should。Specifically Reich points out that we as humans and society create the market and that the notion of “the free market” obfuscates the fact that we make the rules。 That is one of the key pieces for his argument and that in fact politics and wealth are now linked much stronger I enjoyed Saving Capitalism as Reich clearly lays out the current challenges facing capitalism。 Since this book was published the data has only become more compelling that the current system is not working the way it should。Specifically Reich points out that we as humans and society create the market and that the notion of “the free market” obfuscates the fact that we make the rules。 That is one of the key pieces for his argument and that in fact politics and wealth are now linked much stronger than ever。 The current system does not acknowledge this openly but looking closer at the data around real wages and the concentration of wealth in the US the picture becomes clearer。 Reich proposes a few solutions to start to solve this problem some of which I agree with and others I’m more skeptical。 Overall the works really made me contemplate policy options to start to solve these problems and as the title says。。。 save capitalism。 。。。more
Robert Sparrenberger
，
The rich are getting richer and using their advantages to take a bigger piece of the pie。 The author is here tomooont all of this out with graphs and stories。 The book was written in 2014 so some of the info is a bit datedThe end the author puts forth his solutions which will never pass on congress。
Joy Rowland
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I enjoy his videos he puts together on Instagram so thought I’d enjoy this and I did。 Socialism for the rich hardcore capitalism for the poor = the US
Moses Yuriyvich Mikheyev
，
This is an excellent book。 It'll make you think a lot about policy， politics， and economics。 It'll also make you very angry。 And maybe a little apathetic about what you， as a citizen， can do about it all。 （Not much。） Either way， it's a must-read。 This is an excellent book。 It'll make you think a lot about policy， politics， and economics。 It'll also make you very angry。 And maybe a little apathetic about what you， as a citizen， can do about it all。 （Not much。） Either way， it's a must-read。 。。。more
Lisa Butterworth
，
I just loved this book。 It was written for an audience like me， that really doesn't know a whole lot of economic theory， and it reframes the arguments I usually hear conservatives nad liberals making about capitalism in ways that i found very useful and satisfying。 I love that he refuses to get drawn into the big/small government debate， and identifies why that framework is misleading and distracts us from the deeper truer debate， not how big the government is， but rather whose interests the gov I just loved this book。 It was written for an audience like me， that really doesn't know a whole lot of economic theory， and it reframes the arguments I usually hear conservatives nad liberals making about capitalism in ways that i found very useful and satisfying。 I love that he refuses to get drawn into the big/small government debate， and identifies why that framework is misleading and distracts us from the deeper truer debate， not how big the government is， but rather whose interests the government is protecting。 and we all know， right now， that it's not protecting the people。 The rich， the corporations， the powerful， are all protected and the rest of us are out here swinging in the breeze of social destruction。 。。。more
Drew Wellham
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Some good high level insight that helps explain where we are as a nation。 However， it gets a bit repetitive at times。
Jack Berry
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Reich does well to illustrate some serious flaws with our system and provides insight about how we might see that change and how he thinks we should go about it。 Definitely a very interesting read。
Christie Camarata
，
Best book I've ever read！ I don't really like Reich's politics but I like him as a person。 Fair warning if you have any morals you will never vote again in your life。 Best book I've ever read！ I don't really like Reich's politics but I like him as a person。 Fair warning if you have any morals you will never vote again in your life。 。。。more
Konstantinos Kalampokis
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An insightful reading on where and how capitalism has for the past decades failed to serve， as an economic system， a large part of the society。 Additionally it offers means and actions that can lead again to prosperity for the many。 Not an easy ready， but recommended nevertheless。
Chris Boutté
，
Robert Reich is an interesting guy， and I absolutely love his books。 I'm a pro-Bernie， Democratic Socialist， but Reich believes we can save capitalism。 As I continue to read his books， I notice that not only does Reich think we can save capitalism， but he discusses wealth redistribution and Universal Basic Income。 He has some fantastic ideas and does a great job explaining how we got in this mess and why we can't get out， but I wonder if he's being strategic with how he discusses capitalism。 One Robert Reich is an interesting guy， and I absolutely love his books。 I'm a pro-Bernie， Democratic Socialist， but Reich believes we can save capitalism。 As I continue to read his books， I notice that not only does Reich think we can save capitalism， but he discusses wealth redistribution and Universal Basic Income。 He has some fantastic ideas and does a great job explaining how we got in this mess and why we can't get out， but I wonder if he's being strategic with how he discusses capitalism。 One way to scare some people away from making changes to the system is to mention "socialism" and "Venezuela"， even though Bernie's ideas come from developed nations in places like Scandanavia where they have a single-payer healthcare system。 Reich never uses words like "socialism"， but he believes in a lot of the same ideas， so I wonder if this is his way of easing people into socialist ideas。 If so， that's genius。 If not， I hope it's working anyway。 。。。more
Lampros
，
Simple for layman， combined with a courageous honesty， useful facts and a refreshing multidisciplinary approach on economics。 The inclustion of topics such as the bankruptcy law is of utmost importance。 Would recommend for beginners in social science as well as activists。
Dr。 Tobias Christian Fischer
，
Ein schönes Buch mit vielen Beispielen。 Leider fehlt mir die klare Linie und Aussage des Buches。 Ich teile dir Meinung nur bedingt。
Drew
，
What an illuminating read。 I had always thought that the "free market" talk was just an illusion used to keep those without power from meddling in a system that was designed to keep power and money with the few。 Mr。 Reich does an excellent job of pointing out what is wrong and supplying some remedies for it。 Highly recommend this book。 My big takeaway was how various social issues are really the only separation between right and left when it comes to wealth and political influence。 We should all What an illuminating read。 I had always thought that the "free market" talk was just an illusion used to keep those without power from meddling in a system that was designed to keep power and money with the few。 Mr。 Reich does an excellent job of pointing out what is wrong and supplying some remedies for it。 Highly recommend this book。 My big takeaway was how various social issues are really the only separation between right and left when it comes to wealth and political influence。 We should all be able to agree， once the facts presented in this book are know to all parties， that the economy is only working for the top 1% and that it doesn't have to be that way。 。。。more
Yü
，