Tax the Rich!

How Lies, Loopholes, and Lobbyists Make the Rich Even Richer

A powerfully persuasive and thoroughly entertaining guide to the most effective way to un-rig the economy and fix inequality, from America’s wealthiest “class traitors”

“They’re Rich and They’re Mad About Taxes (Too Low!)” —The New York Times

The vast majority of Americans—71 percent—believe the economy is rigged in favor of the rich. Guess what? They’re right.

How do you rig an economy? You start with the tax code. In Tax the Rich! former BlackRock executive Morris Pearl, the millionaire chair of the Patriotic Millionaires, and Erica Payne, the organization’s founder, take readers on an engaging and enlightening insider’s tour of the nation’s tax code, explaining exactly how “the rich”—and the politicians they control—manipulate the U.S. tax code to ensure the rich get richer, and everyone else is left holding the bag.

Blunt and irreverent, Tax the Rich! unapologetically dismantles the “intellectual” justifications for a tax code that virtually guarantees destabilizing levels of inequality and consequent social unrest. Infographics, charts, cartoons, and lively characters including “the Werkhardts” and “the Slumps” make a complicated subject accessible (and, yes, sometimes even funny) and illuminate the practical reforms that can put America on the road to stability and shared prosperity before it’s too late. Never have the arguments in this book been more timely—or more important.

Topics:

Praise

“Passionate.”
—Financial Times
“Tax the Rich! reveals the inner workings of a system designed to make rich people richer and everyone else poorer. It breaks down how the economy has been deliberately structured, in large part through the tax code, to funnel the vast majority of economic growth into the pockets of millionaires and billionaires, working people be damned. This book gives a rare insider’s view of how the system is rigged, and offers a blueprint on how to fix it, starting with an engaged and united electorate holding politicians accountable for taxing the rich.”
—Robert Reich, former U.S. Secretary of Labor and author of Saving Capitalism
“Tax the Rich! should be on the bookshelves of every single working person in America. In this book, Morris and Erica skillfully reveal in plain English just how rigged our economy and tax code really are. This approachable look at the worst excesses of a tax code designed for the rich and by the rich makes it clear: working people are getting screwed by the status quo. If we want to live in the kind of country where everyone, no matter what their background, has a chance at the American dream, the only way to get there is by taxing the rich.”
—Abigail Disney
“The Patriotic Millionaires know how the rich have rigged the tax system. They tell the story in an engaging and compelling prose for the benefit of all of us. A must read. ”
—Emmanuel Saez, economist and co-author of The Triumph of Injustice
“Wonderfully readable.”
—Andrew Tobias, writer and former treasurer of the Democratic National Committee
“A timely and important book.”
—San Francisco Book Review
“This is a must-read book for anyone interested in tax justice and how to make the economy fairer. The U.S. tax system, which used to be one of the most progressive in the world, now lavishes rewards on some of the wealthiest people in the country. But as Morris Pearl, Erica Payne, and the Patriotic Millionaires argue, it is not too late to change course.”
—Gabriel Zucman, economist and co-author of The Triumph of Injustice
“This is the best tax book I have ever read. It reaches a level of candor I have never seen before.”
—Ralph Nader, political activist, lawyer and author of Unstoppable
“An illuminating insider’s view of how the wealthy exploit the U.S. tax code.”
—Publishers Weekly

News and Reviews

Capital & Main

Read an interview with authors Erica Payne and Morris Pearl about Tax the Rich! in Capital & Main.

See more

Kirkus Reviews

Read a review of Tax the Rich! in Kirkus Reviews.

See more

Books by these authors

Pay the People!

Pay the People!

Why Fair Pay Is Good for Business and Great for America

John Driscoll, Morris Pearl, The Patriotic Millionaires

Goodreads Reviews