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America: What Went Wrong?
The culmination of two years of research, and based on a series of articles in the Philadelphia Enquirer, two Pulitzer Prize-winning authors reveal how everyone's lives have been touched by public acts and private greed. Barlett and Steele deftly expose the shifting tax burdens, deregulation, foreign investment, bankruptcy laws, and other changes that have reeked havoc on the middle class.
252 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1992
116 people are currently reading
411 people want to read
About the author
Donald L. Barlett
15 books16 followersDonald Leon Barlett was an American investigative journalist and author who often collaborated with James B. Steele. According to The Washington Journalism Review, they were a better investigative reporting team than even Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein. Together they won two Pulitzer Prizes, two National Magazine Awards and six George Polk Awards. In addition, they have been recognized by their peers with awards from Investigative Reporters and Editors on five separate occasions. They were known for their reporting technique of delving deep into documents and then, after what could be a long investigative period, interviewing the necessary sources. The duo worked together for over 40 years and is frequently referred to as Barlett and Steele.
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Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews
November 28, 2017
I read this 25 years ago but still remember how well the authors presented the facts of income inequality in the United States in the 1990s. I'd be interested in going back and reading it again, since the problem of income inequality has only gotten worse.
February 20, 2014
So much better than I ever expected. This book was written more than 20 years ago and it is as relevant today as when it came out.
Originally a series of lengthy articles in the Philadelphia Inquirer, this book describes in great detail how corporate mergers and Wall Street deals affect working people. It also sheds a bright light on the influence that Congress has on who wins and who loses in today's economy. Bartlett and Steele were talking about the 1% decades before it was fashionable.
The best thing about this book is that it is written by laymen for a wide general audience, which makes some very complex material digestible and understandable. I'd recommend this book to anyone interested in the mechanics of inequality.
Originally a series of lengthy articles in the Philadelphia Inquirer, this book describes in great detail how corporate mergers and Wall Street deals affect working people. It also sheds a bright light on the influence that Congress has on who wins and who loses in today's economy. Bartlett and Steele were talking about the 1% decades before it was fashionable.
The best thing about this book is that it is written by laymen for a wide general audience, which makes some very complex material digestible and understandable. I'd recommend this book to anyone interested in the mechanics of inequality.
May 19, 2018
This book was published in the early nineties right before the dotcom boom. It is an excellent explanation of what happened in the eighties and the problems we created because of tax cuts and corporations offshoring jobs and investments. It focuses on the excess of the super rich, income inequality, and corporations offshoring money. Nothing this book has talked about has been fixed. I find it fascinating that the arguments used by Trump on his base are here--your jobs are going off shore! Other countries aren't paying their share! The little guy is getting hurt! But somehow the argument in the book and its reasons have been twisted and now we have this disaster of a President telling the screwed over what they want to hear while Paul Ryan guts our tax system even further. The President and his cronies laundering money and peddling influence while raking in cash and the poor are only going to get poorer. Oh, and healthcare still hasn't been fixed. Do not read unless you want to feel very pessimistic.
February 28, 2012
Interesting in the extreme. This book, while technically outdated (1992), has been proven prophetic. It's a cogent and deeply-researched examination of the waning economic oversight or regulation in America, and the catastrophic problems stemming from that. This reads like an accurate diagnosis of the diseases-- income inequality, outsourcing, and massive government debt-- which we've had to deal with (or have refused to deal with) for the past three decades.
Only more poignant now, because nobody in power seems to have listened to what these muckrakers were saying. I'm looking at you, Dan Rostankowski!!
Only more poignant now, because nobody in power seems to have listened to what these muckrakers were saying. I'm looking at you, Dan Rostankowski!!
February 24, 2021
If you worked in a newsroom in the early 1990s, then you no doubt heard again and again that this was the gold standard for hard-hitting, explanatory journalism. There were many workshops, etc., in an attempt to mimic its methods and success.
July 21, 2012
I read this book 20 years ago but must add it to my list with high praise. Based on a Pulitzer Prize winning series in the Philadelphia Inquirer, it set out the trends well underway by then that have resulted in the mess we are in now. I suspect the reason this book isn't a solid 4.5 stars (no big seller can retain 5.0) is people who consider its thesis political and don't like it. Short term profiteering, failing regulation, financial gimmicks, cashing in assets and selling out workers and communities all for the top brass and the stockholders, corporate raiders, lawyers and bankers running amok destroying solid businesses .... it's all here. This book is not dated; even though it's old news, it presents our problems in a fresh, compelling narrative that really resonates years after it was written. Everything it cites as an emerging problem led to the crash of 2008 and are all full-blown crises now.
November 29, 2012
Caution: this is not the book to read before jumping into bed at night. The facts revealed here will keep you up all night, tossing and turning, because of the greed of corporate raiders, helped along by the US tax code. Bartlett and Steele have filled this book with graphics and stories gleaned from over 100,000 pages of documents detailing how so many middle class jobs, which paid living wages, were lost(frequently shipped overseas). These jobs were sometimes replaced but typically paid minimum wages. This book was written 20 years ago and it has accurately predicted the economy we have today.
December 22, 2011
America: What Went Wrong is an amazingly prescient book that was written in the 90's but may have just as well been written today. Just about all of the hot topics in economics today, such as corporate malfeasance, the growing wealth gap, excessive CEO pay, and others, can be found in this book written nearly 20 years ago. WHat we are going through now is part of a longer process that can be tied directly to supply-side fantasies instigated by Reagan and continued to today. Read this book if you want to understand our current state of malaise.
May 28, 2018
This book is persuasive and the authors are competent rhetoriticians. However, the authors should have taken a 101-level accounting course before writing it. They make embarrassingly basic errors like confusing revenues with profits, and the way they frame basic accounting concepts like NOLs, goodwill and “amortization of intangibles” as nothing more than tools for corporate trickery and tax-dodging suggests they don’t fully understand FASB accounting standards.
And it doesn’t stop there. The authors don’t appear to understand basic aspects of municipal finance. They don’t fully understand the role of the capital markets in the economy. And they certainly don’t understand monetary policy, nor do they seem to understand many of the basic dynamics of taxation. Despite all this, the authors have zero problem fitting absolutely *everything* they see into a preset class-warfare based narrative.
What's most fascinating about this book though, is how it harps on the same problems people have been complaining about for generations--and they are the exact same problems people are complaining about right now, 26 years after this book first came out: that the rich are getting richer, that the middle class is screwed, that deficits are too big, that it’s all unfair, that nobody can get ahead anymore, that the system is rigged against the little guy…. etc., etc. In an ironic coincidence, Time Magazine’s cover story last week was essentially this book, shortened and rewritten: http://time.com/5280446/baby-boomer-g...
Thus reading this book was like reading a quote complaining about the younger generation... and then seeing the quote comes from Hesiod in the 8th Century BC. It’s the same unoriginal perspective on the same perceived problems.
And it doesn’t stop there. The authors don’t appear to understand basic aspects of municipal finance. They don’t fully understand the role of the capital markets in the economy. And they certainly don’t understand monetary policy, nor do they seem to understand many of the basic dynamics of taxation. Despite all this, the authors have zero problem fitting absolutely *everything* they see into a preset class-warfare based narrative.
What's most fascinating about this book though, is how it harps on the same problems people have been complaining about for generations--and they are the exact same problems people are complaining about right now, 26 years after this book first came out: that the rich are getting richer, that the middle class is screwed, that deficits are too big, that it’s all unfair, that nobody can get ahead anymore, that the system is rigged against the little guy…. etc., etc. In an ironic coincidence, Time Magazine’s cover story last week was essentially this book, shortened and rewritten: http://time.com/5280446/baby-boomer-g...
Thus reading this book was like reading a quote complaining about the younger generation... and then seeing the quote comes from Hesiod in the 8th Century BC. It’s the same unoriginal perspective on the same perceived problems.
April 15, 2017
It's been a decade since I read this book. I came across it, so in these mercenary days for businesses and workers, a review is in order.
I heard an hour interview with Bartlett and Steele (authors) when this book came out. They were able to briefly lay out the ugly side of investment capitalism. Their book is a bit more dull, but monetary issues can be dry. The lives destroyed become statistics instead of real workers and small time stockholders. The book is dated, but makes clear how the wealthy use political power to lie, cheat and steal. The former companies become skeletons as repeated buyers make self-serving or just plain stupid investments that when successful create personal treasuries, and when not (as with President Trump) declare bankruptcy and come out wealthier in the long run. How people can admire plundering economics for selfishness in others is a mystery, but there are those who do. This book shows how they did it.
In business today, wealth, risk and international competition have upped the ante and as with vehicle parts manufacturers in the U.S. where businesses and workers are at the mercy of boards of directors of the vehicle manufacturers.
I heard an hour interview with Bartlett and Steele (authors) when this book came out. They were able to briefly lay out the ugly side of investment capitalism. Their book is a bit more dull, but monetary issues can be dry. The lives destroyed become statistics instead of real workers and small time stockholders. The book is dated, but makes clear how the wealthy use political power to lie, cheat and steal. The former companies become skeletons as repeated buyers make self-serving or just plain stupid investments that when successful create personal treasuries, and when not (as with President Trump) declare bankruptcy and come out wealthier in the long run. How people can admire plundering economics for selfishness in others is a mystery, but there are those who do. This book shows how they did it.
In business today, wealth, risk and international competition have upped the ante and as with vehicle parts manufacturers in the U.S. where businesses and workers are at the mercy of boards of directors of the vehicle manufacturers.
February 10, 2021
Must read for all Americans
This is an amazing summary of the American economy. This should be a must read by all Americans. I truly enjoyed the book.
This is an amazing summary of the American economy. This should be a must read by all Americans. I truly enjoyed the book.
January 26, 2013
You'd think that with the article's (followed up by this book) breaking down how Congress has allowed unfettered corporate greed to prevail for decades that we as a country would have demanded reform. But then of course you'll remember that we have lobbies in this country. The book covers the time from Carter through Bush Sr. and talks about Democrats as much as Republicans, so it is definitely non-partisan. It did get a little dry at times, but was very informative. I can honestly say that I have never shaken my head while reading a book more in my life.
June 2, 2016
I can't really give a precise review because I read this book around 1995. The reason that I'm writing anything is because it was so good it stuck with me this entire time and I have kept it to reference every now and then. When my son was talking about income inequality a few weeks ago I pulled it out and he read it. He reminded me just how good it is and how relevant it is for today. As soon as I have time, I am going to reread it.
July 7, 2009
Shows how (mostly 80's-era) Congress (with the help of the Executive branch of government) systematically chipped away at a lot of the regulations that restrained corporate America, to the ultimate detriment of the poor and middle class. Note: It will help a lot if you bone up on your economics before you read this; it ain't exactly the lightest of reading.
January 6, 2021
Updated, clear information with applicable details on aspects of problems that have grown to crisis proportions in America.
December 1, 2008
Shows the law changes in the 80's which have led to current problems and lessening of the power of the voter.
July 13, 2009
I wish I (and many other people in positions of power) had read this 15 years ago. We'd all be in a lot better shape!
July 26, 2011
solid- the facts from an old school hard core accdmc whose leadership and scholarship will be seriously missed when he is gone.
April 28, 2015
These writers are American Cassandras, and to mix my metaphors, the working class fiddled while the elite stole our middle class lifestyle.
December 9, 2024
Wow. Nearly 35 years later, NONE of the issues identified by Barlett & Steele and the Philadelphia Inquirer have been fixed! Political malpractice is causing our democracy to fail by exorbitantly favoring the top 1% at the expense of the bottom 90%.
"Goodwill" ... says you pay above fair market price for an asset (Steve Ballmer or AT&T, among thousands of others) and treat the overpayment as an intangible asset. Our tax code lets you amortize the goodwill and reduce your taxes over 15 years.
"Step-Up in Basis" ... say your parents have an asset (maybe stock or an overpriced painting, or a business) that has appreciated by $1M, or $10M, or $100M+, and they pass it on to you after their death. Our tax code allows a "Step-Up," so no tax needs to be paid on that appreciation.
"Executive Pay Deduction"—back when executive pay was more modest, the treatment of executive pay as a tax expense was less onerous. Now, the top four executives' pay and performance pay routinely pass eight- and nine-figure compensation and corporations deduct this as an expense. Effectively, the taxpayer is subsidizing executives' outlandish salaries.
"Net Operating Loss (NOL) Carryforward" is a beauty. Say you were a real estate developer turned politician who made many bad business decisions, causing a loss of over $1.1B in the 1990s. First, you declare bankruptcy, but then you reduce your tax liability for decades.
In many cases, especially in the 1980s, mergers and acquisitions used massive amounts of borrowed money, often based on the company's assets. Due to the debt, bankruptcy, sales, and closure of plants, and associated job losses can result, causing the taxpayer to pick up the bill. Think of the Savings & Loan fiasco and more recent failures of financial institutions. Then, the NOLs can be acquired through the purchase of bankrupt companies, and the taxes of the purchasing company are reduced.
The list goes on, say; "Carried Interest" (Mitt Romney) available to hedge fund managers. The middle class gets destroyed, the top 1% gets wealthier, the opportunity for upward mobility is degraded, and it is all legal because the wealthy lobby and pay for the legislation to make it so.
Four decades of political malpractice paid for by billionaires to benefit the wealthy, none of which is available to the vast majority of citizens, and nothing has changed!
"Goodwill" ... says you pay above fair market price for an asset (Steve Ballmer or AT&T, among thousands of others) and treat the overpayment as an intangible asset. Our tax code lets you amortize the goodwill and reduce your taxes over 15 years.
"Step-Up in Basis" ... say your parents have an asset (maybe stock or an overpriced painting, or a business) that has appreciated by $1M, or $10M, or $100M+, and they pass it on to you after their death. Our tax code allows a "Step-Up," so no tax needs to be paid on that appreciation.
"Executive Pay Deduction"—back when executive pay was more modest, the treatment of executive pay as a tax expense was less onerous. Now, the top four executives' pay and performance pay routinely pass eight- and nine-figure compensation and corporations deduct this as an expense. Effectively, the taxpayer is subsidizing executives' outlandish salaries.
"Net Operating Loss (NOL) Carryforward" is a beauty. Say you were a real estate developer turned politician who made many bad business decisions, causing a loss of over $1.1B in the 1990s. First, you declare bankruptcy, but then you reduce your tax liability for decades.
In many cases, especially in the 1980s, mergers and acquisitions used massive amounts of borrowed money, often based on the company's assets. Due to the debt, bankruptcy, sales, and closure of plants, and associated job losses can result, causing the taxpayer to pick up the bill. Think of the Savings & Loan fiasco and more recent failures of financial institutions. Then, the NOLs can be acquired through the purchase of bankrupt companies, and the taxes of the purchasing company are reduced.
The list goes on, say; "Carried Interest" (Mitt Romney) available to hedge fund managers. The middle class gets destroyed, the top 1% gets wealthier, the opportunity for upward mobility is degraded, and it is all legal because the wealthy lobby and pay for the legislation to make it so.
Four decades of political malpractice paid for by billionaires to benefit the wealthy, none of which is available to the vast majority of citizens, and nothing has changed!
September 23, 2025
I got to see one of the authors at the IRE Conference in New Orleans and was intrigued. The book still stands tall as a resource for understanding the gutting of the middle class. Private equity, corporate titans and radical anti-government sentiment have all combined to line the wealthy’s pockets will stripping away any capital for anyone else. That trend is only going to accelerate without radical change.
July 20, 2023
By two Pulitzer-winning Philadelphia Enquirer reporters, a cogent analysis of how wealth was funneled upward to the rich under Reagan as the middle class vanished and the working class voted against their own economic self-interest. Deregulation, union-busting, stagnant wages and trickle-down a mere piss-off.
April 22, 2020
This book discusses the factors that led to the current levels of wealth and income inequality in the USA.
July 14, 2021
Older book, but it sets the stage for where we are tody.
August 2, 2023
Reading a book from the 1990s about the economic doomsday of the future is almost as eerie as living it
January 15, 2009
This book was realy hard to read at first for a person that reads slow but it was hella sick. it was very informative book.It talked about the economy and all the stuff thats going on in america. i recomend you read it.
August 7, 2008
Big Government doom and gloom for the mid-nineties. I remember enjoying it half heartedly at the time and looking back I can't recite anything I retained from it.
Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews