"Presents a well-organized brief to refute many of the 'durable myths' of how U.S. political economy operates. Ideal for an undergraduate course on inequality." —Kathleen Odell Korgen, Contemporary Sociology

One of the most durable myths of US political economy is that we take from the rich and give to the poor—penalizing the rich for their hard work and rewarding the undeserving. Mark Mattern turns that story on its head.

Documenting the everyday, institutionalized ways that income and wealth are transferred upward in the United States, Mattern shows how in fact the bottom subsidizes the top. His provocative analysis, describing in detail the processes and policy choices that systematically favor the rich, is both a tale of "Robin Hood in reverse" and a call for a more equitable, democratic political economy.