The Audacity of Greed: Free Markets, Corporate Thieves, and the Looting of America by Jonathan Tasini

September 2009 – Ig Publishing
A critical examination of the people and values responsible for the collapse of the American economy, and a prescription for valuing the American workforce.
“Jonathan Tasini is one of the country’s premier labor writers. Not just a reporter, he brings a
wealth of firsthand, frontline, experience to every issue he tackles. —Barbara Ehrenreich
"This is must reading for anyone who wants to know how we got into this financial mess – and
what it will take to get out of it.”—Katrina Vanden Heuvel “In order to comprehend the entirety of our nation’s economic system, an understanding of working-class Americans and the labor movement is absolutely essential. Nobody understands that better than Jonathan Tasini. His writing is infused with a thorough knowledge of not only labor, but how corporate greed —James P. Hoffa, General President, International Brotherhood of Teamsters New York: Over the past quarter century, we have lived through the greatest looting of wealth in human history. While billions of dollars streamed into the pockets of a few elites in the corporate and economic class, the vast majority of citizens have lived through a period of falling wages, disappearing pensions, and dwindling bank accounts—all of which led to the personal debt crisis that lies at the root of the current financial meltdown. 
In The Audacity of Greed: Free Markets, Corporate Thieves, and the Looting of America,
long time labor and economics writer Jonathan Tasini examines the phony ethos of the freemarket that robs everyday Americans, and exposes the individuals responsible for the looting of America. From corporate executives who funded their lavish lifestyles at the public’s
expense, to the politicians who let it happen, Tasini argues that we need a cultural and
philosophical revolution that punctures the fable of market fundamentalism and, by doing so,
values the contributions made by ordinary Americans throughout the economy.
Talk with author Jonathan Tasini, including: prescriptions to improve the current economic situation include:
• How free-market fundamentalism was used create the largest wage gap in American history
• Which individual players, corporations, and leaders were responsible for the recent economic
meltdown
• Solutions for a cultural overhaul that values American workers, such as establishing a living
wage, creating national health and pension plans care system for all, fair tax reform, and more.