Solid economic analysis clouded by repetition, naivete, political bias, and a lack of enough ideas to really go more than a handful of chapters before you find yourself reading the same hate over and over and over. Excellent point - the bankers in the top .1% are jeopardizing the country's economic future and current access to education/wealth/life betterment by shrinking the size of the collective pie through rent-seeking behaviors that do not add value. Stiglitz proves this, but then does himself a disservice by showing an incredible lack of awaremness by speaking of the Arab spring as though it were motivated by economic disenfranchisement and then grouping that oh so evil Right into one homogeneous monolith devoid of reason. Grow up. Coming off as intolerant, hateful and every bit as simple-minded as Fox News talking heads and New York Times editorial writers just dulls the message. This was a solid 25-page paper that became subtraction by addition. Freeland's Plutocrats and Murray's Coming Apart are much more fully realized analyses of today's economic and social climate.

Soundly and cogently argued, but can get repetitive.