Engine of Inequality: The Fed and the Future of Wealth in America - Hardcover

by Karen Petrou (Author)

The first book to reveal how the Federal Reserve holds the key to making us more economically equal, written by an author with unparalleled expertise in the real world of financial policy

Following the 2008 financial crisis, the Federal Reserve's monetary policy placed much greater focus on stabilizing the market than on helping struggling Americans. As a result, the richest Americans got a lot richer while the middle class shrank and economic and wealth inequality skyrocketed. In Engine of Inequality, Karen Petrou offers pragmatic solutions for creating more inclusive monetary policy and equality-enhancing financial regulation as quickly and painlessly as possible.

Karen Petrou is a leading financial-policy analyst and consultant with unrivaled knowledge of what drives the decisions of federal officials and how big banks respond to financial policy in the real world. Instead of proposing legislation that would never pass Congress, the author provides an insider's look at politically plausible, high-impact financial policy fixes that will radically shift the equality balance. Offering an innovative, powerful, and highly practical solution for immediately turning around the enormous nationwide problem of economic inequality, this groundbreaking book:

• Presents practical ways America can and should tackle economic inequality with fast-acting results
• Provides revealing examples of exactly how bad economic inequality in America has become no matter how hard we all work
• Demonstrates that increasing inequality is disastrous for long-term economic growth, political action, and even personal happiness
• Explains why your bank's interest rates are still only a fraction of what they were even though the rich are getting richer than ever, faster than ever
• Reveals the dangers of FinTech and BigTech companies taking over banking
• Shows how Facebook wants to control even the dollars in your wallet
• Discusses who shares the blame for our economic inequality, including the Fed, regulators, Congress, and even economists

Engine of Inequality: The Fed and the Future of Wealth in America should be required reading for leaders, policymakers, regulators, media professionals, and all Americans wanting to ensure that the nation's financial policy will be a force for promoting economic equality.

Front Jacket

Economic inequality in America is a problem that is not going away. Even before the COVID-19 crisis wrought havoc on the economy, the disparity between the rich and the poor was at levels not seen since World War II.

Moonshot proposals to curb inequality in America include progressive tax reform aimed at the one-percenters, mass cancellation of student loans, and an overhaul of public education. While these may all be formidable weapons to fight inequality, they have little chance of clearing the necessary political hurdles in Washington.

Without bipartisan consensus, are we doomed to watch idly as the yawning gap between the rich and poor grows dangerously out of control?

As one of the most insightful policy observers in the world, Karen Petrou argues we're looking for solutions in all the wrong places. In Engine of Inequality, she persuasively takes dead aim at the Federal Reserve as a crucial but unrecognized source of economic inequality and offers meaningful policy proposals that don't require an act of Congress.

Since the 2008 financial crisis, inequality has been rapidly increasing in no small part because of policies enacted by the Federal Reserve. Monetary and regulatory policy may seem far afield from economic inequality--but who gets the money how is the mission-critical job of central banks such as the Fed, which move money across our financial system. Like it or not, the Fed's policies have a profound impact on the balance of equality.

Petrou boldly suggests the Fed must pull its head out of the sand. She details the hard data showing how the Fed's post-crisis policies have unintentionally exacerbated the problem: reliance on aggregate data like Gross Domestic Product (GDP) obscures the economic reality of American families, trickle-down programs that rescue financial markets only benefit the rich, ultra-low interest rates impede meaningful savings by the middle class and others.

Engine of Inequality unveils several pragmatic actions that the Federal Reserve can and should take immediately to reverse its adverse influence on economic inequality and use its power to move the money into a force for shared prosperity.

Back Jacket

PRAISE FOR ENGINE OF INEQUALITY

"Karen Petrou, one of the world's deepest financial thinkers, puts her finger on the proximate cause of the pre- and post-Covid enormous increase in the stock market and associated growth in extreme U.S. wealth inequality. It's the Federal Reserve's ongoing No-Cost Lender of First Resort Policy. Her book is a tour de force--brilliant, fundamental, elucidating, and engaging. It's also a sad story about well-meaning policy boomeranging badly on the middle class."

--Laurence Kotlikoff, Professor of Economics at Boston University, President of Economic Security Planning, and a New York Times bestselling author

"This book is highly critical of Fed policy and will receive a lot of attention, especially if Fed policy doesn't work in the coming years."

--Henry Kaufman, President, Henry Kaufman & Company

"Petrou's book uncovers a hidden engine of our skyrocketing inequality: financial policy. In accessible and engaging prose, Petrou takes us through the inner workings of monetary policy at the Fed and financial regulations, how they've made inequality worse, and how they could instead be retooled to take us to a more equitable future. A novel look at the problem of inequality and bold ideas to help resolve it. A must-read."

--Emmanuel Saez, Director of the Center for Equitable Growth at the University of California at Berkeley

Author Biography

Dubbed by American Banker as "the sharpest mind analyzing banking policy today--maybe ever," KAREN PETROU is one of the most influential experts on financial policy and regulation in the world. She is cofounder and Managing Partner of Federal Financial Analytics, a consulting firm that provides analysis and advisory services on legislative, regulatory, and public-policy issues. Known for nonpartisan analysis, Petrou has testified before many U.S. government agencies. She is frequently interviewed for expert commentary and her work has been featured in the Financial Times, Wall Street Journal, American Banker, and Marketplace. Recently, Petrou has been featured for her pro bono work developing a new financial instrument to speed treatments and cures for disabilities and diseases, starting with those that cause severe vision impairment. Karen lives in Washington D.C. with her husband Basil and guide dog, Zuni.