Unjust Deserts: How the Rich are Taking Our Common Inheritance and Why We Should Take it Back

1/23/09 Discussion with Author and Demos Senior Fellow Lew Daly at Powell’s Books in Portland

New York, NY--The 2008 presidential campaign ended with a sharp moral debate about "spreading the wealth" in the United States. With recent news that the U.S. is officially in a recession, and as America’s households are teetering and our economic engine is seizing up, the issue of wealth distribution is front and center in public debate. In a timely and provocative work of social criticism, authors Lew Daly and Gar Alperovitz explore the history and future of wealth distribution in America in their new book, “Unjust Deserts: How the Rich are Taking Our Common Inheritance and Why We Should Take it Back.”

“Unjust Deserts” will be the topic of a special event on Friday, January 23rd, hosted by Powell’s City of Books on Burnside in Portland, OR. The event will feature a discussion with author Lew Daly, followed by a book signing. Admission is free and open to the public.

In what Barbara Ehrenreich calls “the untold story of wealth creation in our time,” Daly and Alperovitz argue that as people have solved numerous problems that bewildered and plagued those before us, we have accumulated an immense stock of knowledge. This knowledge is a social inheritance, nurtured by governments, institutions, and culture, and created by many generations of people. However, the fruits of knowledge--the wealth it generates--flows increasingly to the top. A new aristocracy is reaping huge unearned gains from our collective intellectual wealth. “Unjust Deserts” is a critical examination these issues and offers a fresh perspective that may help to resolve our country’s widening wealth gaps.

WHEN:
Friday, January 23rd, 2009 at 7:30 pm

WHERE:
Powell’s City of Books on Burnside
1005 W. Burnside
Portland, OR 97209