American Money

Private foundations have been the dynamo of social change since their invention at the beginning of the last century. Yet just over 10 percent of the public knows they even exist; and for those who are aware of them, as well as even those who seek grants from them, their internal workings remain a complete mystery

In the spirit of Evicted, Bait and Switch, and The Big Short, a shocking, heart-wrenching investigation into America’s housing crisis and the modern-day robber barons who are making a fortune off the backs of the disenfranchised working and middle class - among them, Donald Trump and his inner circle.

In Reefer Madness, the best-selling author of Fast Food Nation investigates America's black market and its far-reaching influence on our society through three of its mainstays - pot, porn, and illegal immigrants.

Why have so many middle-class Americans encountered so much financial trouble? In this classic analysis of hard-pressed families, the authors discover that financial stability for many middle-class Americans is all too fragile. The authors consider the changing cultural and economic factors that threaten financial security and what they imply for the future vitality of the middle class. A new preface examines the persistent and new threats that have emerged since the original publication.

Throughout the 20th century, "free enterprise" has been a contested keyword in American politics, and the cornerstone of a conservative philosophy that seeks to limit government involvement into economic matters. Lawrence B. Glickman shows how the idea first gained traction in American discourse and was championed by opponents of the New Deal. Those politicians, believing free enterprise to be a fundamental American value, held it up as an antidote to a liberalism that they maintained would lead toward totalitarian statism.

From Lewis and Clark's 1804 expedition to the 2014 uprising in Ferguson, American history has been made in St. Louis. And as Walter Johnson shows in this searing book, the city exemplifies how imperialism, racism, and capitalism have persistently entwined to corrupt the nation's past. St. Louis was a staging post for Indian removal and imperial expansion, and its wealth grew on the backs of its poor Black residents, from slavery through redlining and urban renewal.

Here's an endearing story of life-altering events. Chantell has it all: a great career, beautiful clothes, lots of spending money, a cool car, and a picture-perfect fiancé. So why is she so unhappy? She promises God that she will become a better person as her father lays on his deathbed. But keeping that promise unravels Chantell's seemingly perfect life.

In this classic account, historian Philip Foner traces the radical history of black workers’ contribution to the American labor movement.

Farming Humans: American Inequality and Profit Over People in the Age of Oligarchy—now in a powerful, unabridged audiobook narrated by Eric Leo himself. Join a frontline voice who has lived the realities of corporate “farming” and structural injustice, as he guides you through America’s hidden mechanisms of exploitation—and equips you to push back. In eight hard-hitting chapters, you’ll learn: How the Federal Reserve’s secret origins and debt-creation cycle fuel boom-bust crashes that enrich elites and saddle everyday Americans with “debt bondage.”

This groundbreaking study of agriculture's role in the war defies long-held notions that Northern industrialization and urbanization led to clashes between North and South. Huston argues that the ideological chasm between plantation owners in the South and family farmers in the North led to the political eruption of 1854-1856 and the birth of a sectionalized party system.

Laredo is a city at the crossroads of North American history. Founded by the Spanish in 1755, it has stood at the intersection of regional commerce since its earliest days. Now, John A. Adams, Jr. provides the first-ever panoramic business and economic history of Laredo. He traces the evolution of the region from its early days as a ranching center into the mid-20th century when Laredo had become what it remains today: a booming port of trade and a principle center of commerce and financial services on the southern border of the United States.

Airbnb knows remote workers are going to shake up real estate investing, but do you? As of spring 2021, Airbnb has added remote-work specific filters and content to their website to prepare for what Zillow calls the “Great Reshuffling".

Written by a "Working-Class American", this book is for "The Working-Class American" that has never been given an education on how to prepare for their financial future. It does not matter if that future is for retirement, or the future of how taxes will affect us all in the future. A Blueprint and Financial Guide for the Working-Class American simply illustrates the Financial STAR points and guides the listener through a point-by-point process to help navigate them to choices that have been available for decades.

A landmark work from one of the preeminent historians of our time: the first published biography of Andrew W. Mellon, the American colossus who bestrode the worlds of industry, government, and philanthropy, leaving his transformative stamp on each. Following a boyhood in 19th-century Pittsburgh, during which he learned from his Scotch-Irish immigrant father the lessons of self-sufficiency and wealth accumulation, Andrew Mellon overcame painful shyness to become one of America's greatest financiers.

How well do you know US tax law, the IRS, and their rich histories? In this fun-filled trivia book, seasoned tax attorney Mike Kowis challenges listeners with 250 questions about American taxation. This audiobook covers amusing tax quotes, history of US taxation, the Internal Revenue Code, important case law, the Internal Revenue Service, tax forms, audits, politics, and much more! Plus, you’ll learn interesting factoids, such as: The US government hired Walt Disney to make cartoons encouraging citizens to pay income taxes in the 1940s. You will surely enjoy testing your knowledge!

We are helpless to slow the decrease of economic damage when a recession occurs. We need a new approach! We have discovered that new stimulus is the quickest, most powerful, and useful tool to get our economy back on track. We need the American Stimulus Program! We can take a small sliver of our disposable income and funnel it together to stimulate and strengthen our economy's most vital component: consumer spending. We could take some of our spare change to build up our economy. This Program ensures stimulus each week effectively and efficiently.

Populists on both sides of the political aisle routinely announce that the American Dream is dead. According to them, the game has been rigged by elites, workers can't get ahead, wages have been stagnant for decades, and the middle class is dying. Michael R. Strain, director of economic policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute, disputes this rhetoric as both wrong and dangerous. In this succinctly argued volume, he shows that, on measures of economic opportunity and quality of life, there has never been a better time to be alive in America.

Conceived in the early 1800s and completed in 1825, the Erie Canal was the boldest and biggest American engineering project of its century, with enduring political, social, and economic effects. It was the Erie Canal that first opened up the West to American enterprise and imagination, bringing vast riches and a far-reaching vision to a rapidly expanding nation.In this compelling narrative, author Gerard Koeppel tells the complete, sweeping story of the creation of the canal.

The Patrons of Husbandry - or the Grange - is the longest-lived US agricultural society and, since its founding shortly after the Civil War, has had immeasurable influence on social change as enacted by ordinary Americans. The Grange sought to relieve the struggles of small farmers by encouraging collaboration. Pathbreaking for its inclusion of women, the Grange is also well known for its association with Gilded Age laws aimed at curbing the monopoly power of railroads.

Unequal Gains offers a radically new understanding of the economic evolution of the United States, providing a complete picture of the uneven progress of America from colonial times to today. While other economic historians base their accounts on American wealth, Peter Lindert and Jeffrey Williamson focus instead on income - and the result is a bold reassessment of the American economic experience.