Poverty, by America

The United States, despite being the world's richest country, has more poverty than any other advanced democracy. Matthew Desmond examines why: affluent Americans benefit from poverty's persistence, whether knowingly or unknowingly. Desmond argues that financially secure citizens exploit the poor by driving down wages while forcing them to overpay for housing and access to cash and credit. The welfare system prioritizes subsidizing wealth for the already-wealthy rather than alleviating poverty. Opportunity is concentrated in exclusive communities, creating zones of wealth alongside zones of despair. Drawing on history, research, and original reporting, Desmond shows how these systems allow one in eight American children to lack basic necessities, permit citizens to live and die on streets, and enable corporations to pay poverty wages. Desmond presents an original case for ending poverty and calls for a politics of collective belonging to create shared prosperity and true freedom.