Rating: 
Summary: A Well Researched Warning
Review: This book is not anti-capitalistic as others would have you believe. It is a thoroughly documented analysis of how the mega-rich in the U.S. got that way. It exposes there attitude towards the working class and demonstrates how much of their wealth is a result of transfer payments made to the rich. Those that condemn this book are obvious apologists for capitalism or shills for the extremely wealthy, or are just ignorant acceptors of the PR dispensed by those groups. It seems some must not have read it, such as the person that said to stop whining and to look at "The Millionare Next Door". This book makes it clear that true laissez-faire capitalism never did exist in the U.S. It also points out the fallacy of the recemmonder "The Millionare Next Door", that the small rich get crushed in the collapse in the system. This book is a warning. Those that fail to study history are condemned to repeat it, as Santayana has famously quoted. The history is that the prior two biggest economic powers showed similar arcs. Sadly, this book does not offer any suggestions to avoid their fate. See "The Wealth And Poverty Of Nations" for more regarding this history. Nor does this book touch on many subjects, such as media manipulation, see "Into The Buzzsaw" for more about that. Nor does it speak much about corporate welfare, of which Time magazine did a decent expose a few years ago.
Rating: 
Summary: Reverse psychology only works on Democrats
Review: First of all, isn't it all so obvious that the 5 star reviews are all from the same person-DUH!The way that guy reviews this tome, you would swear he is reviewing War and Peace or some really outstandingwork.And notice how anytime someone tells the facts about Al Gore, how he (Gore) tried to steal that last election or Mr. Zipper and the "The Worst Family", that those reviews are inundated with unhelpful votes? Hello?This book is boring at best and very misleading. The Rich get richer? This is a very old and stale excuse for the ineptitude of the last Presidential administration. Put this book on your "must miss" list.
Rating: 
Summary: I recommend it to everybody
Review: This is a great book and should be read by everybody.
Very strong arguments and as Krugman puts it "...shows that robber-baron fortunes have been far more persistent than legend would have it."
People who didn't like this book probably think that the Supreme Court had all the rights to pick the winner in the 2000 elections (do not mind the people). They probably think that that's the way it should always work.
Open your mind, and spread the word.
Rating:
Summary: A lesson in Class Warfare
Review: No politician was ever voted into office by the top 1% of income earners.
Rating: 
Summary: Power, Wealth, Politics and Democracy
Review: The author does have a point. The fact that Al Gore used power, wealth, politics and the media to transcend democracy and nearly stole the last Presidential election shows how serious this issue really is.Time to put the wealthy, greedy and egotistical braggards in their place. I completely agree with Phillips in this area.
Rating:
Summary: Facts are solid; conclusion isn't.
Review: Phillips provides a very thorough and generally fair overview of the history of wealth distribution in the U.S. He manages to convince the reader that laissez-faire has never been the true method of markets during the nation's boom times. He also offers insight into the potentially detrimental impact of undemocratic (or at least indirectly democratic) decision-making bodies, like the WTO, IMF, and Federal Reserve. Beyond that, however, any attempt to portray the increasing concentration of wealth itself as objectively bad is somewhat clouded by his own underlying agenda ("long overdue minimum wage increase" is reflective of the tone). Moreover, his strongest points hold that such concentration is a historical indicator that a nation is nearing its end as the predominant economic player in the world market. (The concentration of wealth is just as likely a symptom of other issues, touched on in this book, but with little hint of a solution.) If you're looking for a thorough, up-to-date introduction to the topic of distribution of wealth -- especially the drivers of concentrated wealth -- this is worth reading. If you're seeking a roadmap to the optimal economy or solutions to this "issue," I think you'll find this work falls short.
Rating: 
Summary: not all i'd hoped...
Review: After reading both "Nickel and Dimed" and a wonderful novel called "Only in America" -- both of which dealt with income disparities and unemployment, I was ready to tackle this one, also recommended to me by a friend. Still I found the premise, that it's basically all the government's doing, a little tough to take. What about those entrepreneurs who succeed on their own, make it big, and yes, far outpace the average income in the U.S.? Is the gulf between rich and poor any wider now than, say, between Andrew Carnegie and the immigrant mill or factory worker? There's no doubt the rich enjoy special privilege, but it seems a bit simplistic to say that's the entire reason for inequality.
Rating:
Summary: He's got it WRONG!
Review: Books like this always come out during troubled times like we are experiencing right now. Authors like Kevin Phillips prey on the weak and naive who are scared about the future. For more politically accurate books, read "At Any Cost: How Al Gore tried to steal the Election", Bias, or Slander. America is a great country, the greatest in the free world. It will turn around. Consider this: It took Ronald Reagan two full terms and George Bush, Sr. 1 full term to correct the mistakes made by their predecessors. So it stands to reason that it will take some time for GWB II to correct the mistakes of his predecessor. We finally have a real president in office and a powerful administration. You don't build up the weak by tearing down the strong. You don't create wealth in the poor by attacking the rich. In closing, I can sum up this book in three words: WASTE OF MONEY!
Rating:
Summary: Really, This Book is a "Must Read"
Review: A very important and timely look back at the road U.S. economic and political history have traveled, and a look ahead to where we may be going if we follow the cycles of three prior world empires. This is one of the few books I would put in the "every American must read" category. My key learnings from the book: Wealth distribution in the US is dangerously out of balance, and we are looking at the rise of an American aristocracy. Most great fortunes in US and world history were the products not of invention and markets, but of government favoritism. The "market" derives from medieval fairs where the church allowed a little betting on the side. Speculation grew. The countries with the most speculative cultures - Anglo, American and Dutch - tend to have the most expansive and dynamic economies. Democracy is a system of government. Market capitalism is an economic system. Democracy is not necessarily capitalist, and the confusion of the two is a danger to both. If democracy is viewed as a market, then one dollar is one vote. Money stands in where the voice of the people should speak. When it does, as it has recently and in the Gilded Age, a democratic deficit sets in and the road to reform or ruin begins. Americans believe they are the exception to world history. I hope we are. Yet history shows many cultures which believed the same thing and have risen and fallen in due course. America may be now waking from a long historic holiday from world history. See Andre Gunder Funk and others as to the source of American exceptionalism. Those who have a knee-jerk reaction against these and other sentiments in the book are missing the point. Phillips isn't saying the US is going one way or the other. He is saying, look, this is what's happened to the three most recent world empires. They all thought they were invincible, but they weren't. For my money, the best line in the book is, "if history books could chuckle." Wealth and Democracy is especially poignant now that Congress has given the green light on action against Iraq. Phillips explains why. My only criticism of the book is that it can be repetitive on certain themes. Otherwise this was a highly informative and educational read. Highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: time to wake up and save democracy
Review: This book not only provides an excellent historical perspective of the tension between wealth and democracy in the US, but correctly warns that we are currently in a dangerous, unprecedented period of inequalities in wealth and usurpation of politics and elections by unelected elites (e.g. the Supreme Court, the Federal Reserve Bank, NAFTA, WTO, EU, etc). Plutocracy is winning out over democracy, and few seem to be aware or even care. This is an extremely thoughtful, informative, insightful, and timely book. You should read it.
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