Winner-take-all Politics: How Washington Made T... -

While labor unions and middle-class advocacy groups declined, corporate interests organized into powerful lobbying machines.

The "crime" wasn't committed by the market, but by . The story highlights a massive organizational shift starting around 1978: Winner-Take-All Politics: How Washington Made t...

Instead of a rising tide lifting all boats, they describe an economy where "yachts are rising, but dinghies are largely staying put". The Culprit: Organized Politics This political muscle led to deregulated financial markets,

Elite interests didn't always need to pass new laws. Often, they just had to block updates to old ones—a tactic called "drift"—letting inflation and market changes erode middle-class protections like the minimum wage or labor laws. tax cuts for the hyper-wealthy

Between 1979 and 2007, the richest 1% saw their income grow by 256% , while the bottom 80% grew by only 20% .

This political muscle led to deregulated financial markets, tax cuts for the hyper-wealthy, and a system where "banks are organized; their customers are not".