Between 1980 and 2008, the income of 90% of Americans grew by a measly 1%, while those of large billionaires (0.01% of the population) grew by 403%. A decompensated society at the top of the pyramid may seem like a paradise of upward mobility, but it actually looks more like a graveyard of broken dreams for all but a lucky few. The great fortunes of philanthropic capitalist Bill Gates, the infamous Koch brothers or private equity baron Stephen Schwarzman are presented as evidence of a meritocracy, but rather they seem the result of a legal and economic system designed for it. A system that seriously threatens our quality of life and, ultimately, the very functioning of the rule of law.

In this hilarious accusation, McQuaig and Brooks challenge the idea that today's income inequality is the result of merit, reveal how billionaires have hijacked the global economic system with disastrous consequences for the rest of society, and expose a daring rejection of the cowardly mix of fiscal breaks for rich and austerity for the rest of society.