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Letter to the One Percent

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 What It’s All About…

Letter to the One Percent is exactly what it sounds like: a letter to the richest one percent of American households. It is a call to action, a plea for compassion, and a manifesto for the future. It tells the story of their extraordinary success — and how the other 99 percent of Americans missed out. It explains how this divergence caused household income to stagnate, forced millions of Americans into poverty, and triggered the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. It appeals to the better angels of their nature to bear a higher burden — by paying higher taxes, empowering labor, and cracking down on white-collar crime — in order to reverse the damage done in the past three decades.

No other writer has dared to speak these truths directly to power. Every other mainstream book preaches to the choir. Only Letter to the One Percent is brave enough to challenge the rich to do what the country needs them to do. It is not an attack. It is not class warfare. On the contrary: It is a challenge to end the class war that the One Percent has been winning and the 99 Percent has been losing.

No other political subject is as timely as this one. No other economic trend is as pivotal. From the financial crisis in 2008, to Occupy Wall Street in 2010, to the presidential election in 2012, the divergence between the One Percent and the 99 Percent has been the most talked-about issue in American current events. And yet, no one has synthesized the causes and consequences of it in a succinct, yet comprehensive, book. No one has translated the protests and the politics into the simple pocketbook impact that it has had on the average American household. This is the biggest story of our time, and Letter to the One Percent is the first book to tell it fully, accurately, and unflinchingly.

Reviews for Letter to the One Percent

“In just 85 pages, the brilliant young economist Anthony W. Orlando analyzes the events of the past thirty-five years and thoroughly explores the rise of the One Percent at the expense of the rest of us. It is truly a manifesto for the 99 Percent and should be read by every one of us.”

— Reese Schonfeld, founding President and CEO of CNN

“Letter to the One Percent is an excellent primer and refresher course on macroeconomics. It helped me understand why the U.S. is experiencing the current economic state of affairs. It is also a compassionate call to action. At first, one may not agree with the basic thesis, but it makes complete sense. I am now a believer and highly recommend this read.”

— Mark Itkin, Co-Head of Worldwide Television at William Morris Endeavor

“Anthony W. Orlando has written a short dossier and critique of America’s descent into a very troubled and vulnerable society. He presents it in the original form of a letter chastising the One Percent for these policy failures and urging them to get hold of themselves and opt for decency and long-run survival. But he also provides a small storehouse of ammunition for the 99 Percent to use in their self-defense.”

— Edward S. Herman, Professor Emeritus of Finance at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, bestselling co-author of Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media

“Anthony W. Orlando has the unique ability to translate complex economic phenomena into everyday, nuts-and-bolts language. He speaks for a brave new generation with a voice that deserves to be heard.”

— Susan M. Wachter, Professor of Real Estate and Finance at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, former Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development

“…this well-researched, carefully cited book is a valuable resource for understanding how the country got in such a perilous position and what can be done about it. Using a clear, authoritative writing style,…Orlando…manages to present an impressive number of facts without overwhelming readers. In particular, the statistics he presents are startling, even for those who closely follow the state of the economy.”

— Kirkus Reviews