An Egyptian telecom magnate, discussing how much of a fortune is enough, figures on $1 billion: “That’s my number for the minimum.”
You can meet him in “Plutocrats,” Chrystia Freeland’s exploration of the super-rich.
Freeland finds a general disregard for the sufferings of the middle class and an obsession with not paying more taxes.
In the United States, where finance has played a disproportionate role in producing mega-wealth, Freeland’s subjects tend to blame government or the middle-class for the country’s economic woes, not the recklessness of bankers.
Freeland is an insightful and indefatigable reporter, but she doesn’t present a strong central argument about how, or whether, to counteract the trends she describes.
“PLUTOCRATS: THE RISE OF THE NEW GLOBAL SUPER-RICH AND THE FALL OF EVERYONE ELSE” by Chrystia Freeland, Penguin Press, 330 pages, $27.95
