Free Lunch
How the Wealthiest Americans Enrich Themselves at Government Expense (and Stick You with the Bill)
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Narrated by:
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David Cay Johnston
About this listen
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"Here's a shocking novel with an amazing plot. Donald Trump, Ken Lay, and George Steinbrenner all conspire to siphon billions of dollars from the American middle class. Wait - it's not a novel! It's all true! .... Johnston narrates his own work with a newscaster's tone and perspective. His direct tone keeps listeners engaged throughout." ( AudioFile)
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Required reading
- By David on 10-24-11
By: Gretchen Morgenson, and others
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Who Stole My Pension?
- How You Can Stop the Looting
- By: Robert T. Kiyosaki, Edward Siedle
- Narrated by: Tom Parks
- Length: 9 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
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It’s estimated that there are over 50 million pensioners - in the United States alone. Like the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan, Italy, Germany and many other countries around the world are all in big trouble when it comes to the solvency of their pension funds. Who Stole My Pension? was written to give them guidance, resources, and tools so they can take action...and stop the looting.
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Very Eye Opening
- By Matt on 01-12-22
By: Robert T. Kiyosaki, and others
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Arguing with Idiots
- How to Stop Small Minds and Big Government
- By: Glenn Beck
- Narrated by: Glenn Beck, Pat Gray, Steve "Stu" Burguiere
- Length: 9 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
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Idiots can't be identified through voting records, they can be found only by looking for people who hide behind stereotypes, embrace partisanship, and believe that bumper-sticker slogans are a substitute for common sense. If you know someone who fits the bill, then Arguing with Idiots will help you silence them once and for all with the ultimate weapon: the truth.
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Great Book
- By Stacy on 09-22-09
By: Glenn Beck
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Phishing for Phools
- The Economics of Manipulation and Deception
- By: George A. Akerlof, Robert J. Shiller
- Narrated by: Bronson Pinchot
- Length: 7 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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Ever since Adam Smith, the central teaching of economics has been that free markets provide us with material well-being, as if by an invisible hand. In Phishing for Phools, Nobel Prize-winning economists George Akerlof and Robert Shiller deliver a fundamental challenge to this insight, arguing that markets harm as well as help us. As long as there is profit to be made, sellers will systematically exploit our psychological weaknesses and our ignorance through manipulation and deception.
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Useful for a certain audience, but ...
- By Philo on 02-29-16
By: George A. Akerlof, and others
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A Capitalism for the People
- Recapturing the Lost Genius of American Prosperity
- By: Luigi Zingales
- Narrated by: Jonathan Davis
- Length: 11 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
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Born in Italy, University of Chicago economist Luigi Zingales witnessed firsthand the consequences of high inflation and unemployment - paired with rampant nepotism and cronyism - on a country’s economy. This experience profoundly shaped his professional interests, and in 1988 he arrived in the United States, armed with a political passion and the belief that economists should not merely interpret the world, but should change it for the better.
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Enjoyable but a tad predictable.
- By Kevin on 12-24-12
By: Luigi Zingales
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Bought and Paid For
- The Unholy Alliance Between Barack Obama and Wall Street
- By: Charles Gasparino
- Narrated by: Lloyd James
- Length: 9 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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According to business reporter Charles Gasparino, President Obama is faking his outrage at Wall Street, and his calls for new policies to rein in banks that are "too big to fail" are just pabulum. In reality, Obama has climbed into bed with Wall Street CEOs, giving them what they want so they will support his liberal, big-government agenda.
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Revealing and Convincing
- By Walter on 10-24-11
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Borrowed Time
- Two Centuries of Booms, Busts, and Bailouts at Citi
- By: James Freeman, Vern McKinley
- Narrated by: Fred Sanders
- Length: 11 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
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To save the economy and keep Citi afloat in 2008, the government provided huge infusions of cash through multiple bailouts that frustrated and angered the American public. But, as Wall Street Journal writer James Freeman and financial expert Vern McKinley reveal, the 2008 crisis was just one of many disasters Citi has experienced since its founding more than 200 years ago. In Borrowed Time they reveal Citi’s disturbing history of instability and government support. It’s a story that neither Citi nor Washington wants told.
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Biased
- By CF on 08-09-19
By: James Freeman, and others
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Why Wall Street Matters
- By: William D. Cohan
- Narrated by: Rob Shapiro
- Length: 4 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
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William D. Cohan is no knee-jerk advocate for Wall Street and the big banks. He's one of America's most respected financial journalists and the progressive best-selling author of House of Cards. He has long been critical of the bad behavior that plagued much of Wall Street in the years leading up to the 2008 financial crisis, and because he spent 17 years as an investment banker on Wall Street, he is an expert on its inner workings as well.
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An Inch Deep and A Mile Wide
- By Doug Sheridan on 04-26-17
By: William D. Cohan
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How the Other Half Banks
- Exclusion, Exploitation, and the Threat to Democracy
- By: Mehrsa Baradaran
- Narrated by: Priya Ayyar
- Length: 9 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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The United States has two separate banking systems today - one serving the well-to-do and another exploiting everyone else. How the Other Half Banks contributes to the growing conversation on American inequality by highlighting one of its prime causes: unequal credit. Mehrsa Baradaran examines how a significant portion of the population, deserted by banks, is forced to wander through a Wild West of payday lenders and check-cashing services to cover emergency expenses and pay for necessities - all thanks to deregulation that began in the 1970s.
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The Borrowers at the Fringe
- By Darwin8u on 09-13-16
By: Mehrsa Baradaran
What listeners say about Free Lunch
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- stu wylam
- 06-13-22
Very informative and easy to follow.
Examines the distorted economic policies and corruption that gets fostered in this financial environment. Certainly makes the need for re- examining our economic/ government policies as our nation enters into another guilded age.
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Overall
- Fred Graichen
- 03-02-10
Disturbing
At times I found the information provided so upsetting I had to turn it off. That should be taken as an ultimate compliment, considering the subject matter. What made this so interesting throughout was that the author used many different scenarios to make his point.
What our representatives have allowed to happen in tax policies, lack of oversight etc. is nothing short of criminal. If only every person in our country spent just a few hours each month listen/reading materials like this, maybe we would not all fall for the sound bites we are fed by our political representatives we would not be selling the very future of our company to the elite few.
Thank you Mr. Johnston for this very illuminating read.
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11 people found this helpful
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- Sirrics
- 11-02-12
Exposing Corporate Welfare In A Big Way
What made the experience of listening to Free Lunch the most enjoyable?
The openess of how the author discusses tax bailouts for Corporate America. No this is not about the Oil Companies. They aren't even the biggest offenders. WalMart and Cabela's are some of the worst. I know you Right Wing Conservatives might be shocked at Cabela's being on this list. But they have made an art out of demanding tax breaks from the Federal Gov't down to the local city or county agencies.
We hear the politician keep blowing hot air about people on welfare. Yet not once have I heard one of them complain about the ongoing Tax Welfare for the Mega Corporations. If more people were to read or listen to this book then maybe would could get the politicians to do something about it.
I recommend this book to anyone that is interested in wasteful Gov't spending! It eye opening and all revealing.
If you could give Free Lunch a new subtitle, what would it be?
A Guide For Discovering Corporate Tax Welfare
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2 people found this helpful
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- C. Goldstein
- 12-10-22
Outdated!
This is a decent book and I certainly found parts of it interesting but it’s tough to hear an analysis of economic malfeasance, government subsidies for the richest without mention of Bernie Madoff, the ‘Great Recession’ and TARP. I’m sure none of it would have surprised the author but I would spend your money on a more recent examination.
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Overall
- Amazon Customer
- 03-05-09
A Must Listen! Great narration!
This book documents with facts and entertaining true stories how the corporate world and their high paid lobbyists have taken over our government to enrich the few at the expense of the many. For anyone who wants to know where all our money went, this is a must read! The narration makes it all the better as it is by the author himself, and he does an excellent job. I was sad when it ended and look forward to Mr Johnston's next book.
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20 people found this helpful
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- Salomon Garcia
- 02-02-15
Reader skips so many paragraphs that I lose track
What did you like best about Free Lunch? What did you like least?
The reader isn't too boring. He does a decent job at reading his own book. But how can the author of his own book skip so much? I read the book while he talks, and he skips too much. smh
What other book might you compare Free Lunch to and why?
I have no answer to this. It is a book about the government and corruption
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Overall
- kristopher
- 01-09-11
Fair and balanced
If you despise welfare moms who keep having kids to leach off the government, wait til you read about these corporate welfare hogs. If you rush to vote politicians out of office when they're discovered taking extravagces at the taxpayers expense, wait til you read about famous wealthy folk who make a living using tax funds as their own bank.
These many shameful scams are described with careful reference to verifiable records - newspaper reports, court filings, etc. The author even takes pains to defend some of those involved where appropriate - abasent a company culture to the contrary, corporate officers are obligated to pursue the most profitable course lest they be blamed for incompetence - small town government officials don't want to see their towns become a footnote in history.
What makes this book masterful is that the author describes the scams like a journalist, as opposed to the overstated and dramatic styles that O'Reilley, Michael Moore, Limbaugh and other similar "reporters" have made fashionable.
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13 people found this helpful
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- Charles Marcus Lang
- 03-07-24
Beware that this is an abridgement
It is not an unabridged version. This AUDIBLE narration leaves out about ten chapters, but does include the main points of the most important chapters. Certainly enough material to make the reader's blood boil. (What I would truly look forward to is an unabridged narration of "Perfectly Legal," the first book in the trilogy of which "Free Lunch" is the second book.)
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- steve
- 02-14-13
Ratings warning for prospective purchasers
This book wasn’t for you, but who do you think might enjoy it more?
No one. My political and economic views are very similar to the author, So the subject matter was not a problem.
What could David Cay Johnston have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?
Completely rewrite it. I am very interested in the subject matter proposed but was extremely surprised to see that the book consisted of rhetoric combined with a few short stories in order to elucidate his subject matter.There was no real content to the book.
What aspect of David Cay Johnston’s performance would you have changed?
The performance was fine.
You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?
Not really. It was extremely undeveloped And the content was illusory.
Any additional comments?
I knew that this was a very short book going in. Because of the ratings I expected some real content but found very little. I can only surmise that,once someone purchases an audiobook, they feel they must give it a high rating.My review is intended to warn others to take the ratings for this book with a huge grain of salt. That old commercial, "where's the beef" is applicable here. I guess I'm the gullible one to purchase a 6hr. and 20 minute audiobook and think it could be long enough for the author to develop his premise. Alternatively, the inflated ratings ascribed to audiobooks are becoming deceptive. Buyer beware.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall
- abrahamaku
- 03-08-11
Bought this book thinking I would make money
I bought this book thinking that it would provide tips and tricks on how to save money from taxes and such. However it was the total opposite. It was a book that talked about how well connected individuals use tax money to make themselves richer! Well I already new these kind of things happen, it's not new. I was hoping I could learn some ways to do the same thing.
I bought this book with the wrong assumptions, and therefore didn't like it. For me it was a long winded book complaining about how the rich and well connected continue to get richer. My attitude is, quit complaining, if we invest the amount of time we complain about the rich, and put that time in learning how to think and become wealthy, we all would be in a better place.
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2 people found this helpful