"We live in a flawed democracy that's under assault by people who are warping our democracy for their own ends… [taking] from us things that are pretty basic to living in a society, like health care, education, and the prospect that you can make a decent living."—Peter S. Goodman

Why is the US government unable to afford the basics, like health care and education, that other developed countries can?

Is it because it's starved of resources because we don't tax the rich?

My guest thinks so.

Peter S. Goodman is an award-winning global economics correspondent for The New York Times. He began his work there in 2007 as a national economics correspondent covering the global financial crisis and the Great Recession. He's the author of Past Due: The End of Easy Money and the Renewal of the American Economy and the newly released, Davos Man: How the Billionaires Devoured the World.

Peter joins me on this episode of The Wiggin Sessions to discuss his book and his belief that campaign contributions and lobbying by the wealthiest people in the world led to the dismantling of every conceivable kind of public infrastructure in this country.

Peter says, "My book, actually, doesn't demonize billionaires. It demonizes the absurd idea that we should entrust billionaires to solve all of our problems."

Listen in as Peter shares the three things he believes are the key to solving many of our problems.

Key Takeaways

How Peter came to see that the removal of economic opportunities caused by the transfer of wealth led to these extremist populist movements

Peter shares how he came to see into the window of the thinking of the billionaire class

What the statement "the CEOs are the heroes of the pandemic" revealed about the power of the billionaire class

Why Peter thinks we need to return to a post-WWII democracy, where people had more input into the type of lives they wanted

Why Peter believes that billionaires paying fewer taxes than the people who scrub their toilets is robbing the government of the money needed to upgrade our resources

Why the US cannot afford the things that other developed countries where they tax rich people can

Peter shares why he believes more substantial labor rights, more vigorous anti-trust enforcement, and progressive taxation are the key to solving a lot of our problems

Connect with Peter S. Goodman

Peter S. Goodman

Peter S. Goodman on The New York Times

Connect with Addison Wiggin

Consilience Financial

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Resources

Davos Man: How the Billionaires Devoured the World

Past Due: The End of Easy Money and the Renewal of the American Economy

Jim Rickards - Democracy, Cryptocurrencies, and Global Control EP40

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