Author | Chrystia Freeland |
---|---|
Language | English |
Publisher | Allen Lane (UK)Penguin Books (US) |
Publication date | October 1, 2012 |
Awards | Lionel Gelber Prize (2013) National Business Book Award (2013) |
ISBN | 9781846142529 |
OCLC | 780480424 |
305.5/234 | |
LC Class | HB251 .F74 2012 |
Plutocrats: The Rise of the New Global Super Rich and the Fall of Everyone Else is a book about economic inequality by Chrystia Freeland, first published in 2012. In 2013, it won the Lionel Gelber Prize and the National Business Book Award. [1] [2]
Plutocrats discusses the lives of ultra high net-worth individuals. The book divides the very wealthy into three main groups—Russian oligarchs, Wall Street financial professionals, and American business executives—and devotes considerable attention to how the third group got so rich. [3] It argues that the very rich are often products of fortuitous circumstances, [4] but nonetheless take themselves to deserve their wealth because contemporary plutocrats tend to earn money by working; [5] however, the book does not reach a position one way or another about whether contemporary wealth is meritocratic, [4] nor does it investigate inherited wealth. [6]
A review in The Guardian , while generally praising Plutocrats, noted that it was "short of solutions" to the problems it identifies. [7] According to Anthony Gould, Plutocrats argues that the American Dream is "apparently over", because American society no longer rewards entrepreneurs who produce useful or valuable goods and instead favours financial chicanery as a way to get rich. [8]
Justin Trudeau reportedly met Freeland for the first time at a book signing for Plutocrats in Toronto. [9] The book convinced Trudeau to ask Freeland to join the Liberal Party as a candidate. [9] Trudeau subsequently became Prime Minister and appointed Freeland to his cabinet, initially as Minister of International Trade and eventually Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance.
A plutocracy or plutarchy is a society that is ruled or controlled by people of great wealth or income. The first known use of the term in English dates from 1631. Unlike most political systems, plutocracy is not rooted in any established political philosophy.
The deputy prime minister of Canada is a minister of the Crown and a member of the Canadian Cabinet. The office is conferred at the discretion of the prime minister and does not have an associated departmental portfolio. Canadian deputy prime ministers are appointed to the Privy Council and styled as the Honourable, a privilege maintained for life.
Justin Pierre James Trudeau is a Canadian politician who has served as the 23rd prime minister of Canada since 2015 and the leader of the Liberal Party since 2013. Trudeau is the second-youngest prime minister in Canadian history after Joe Clark; he is also the first to be the child of a previous holder of the post, as the eldest son of Pierre Trudeau.
Linda Joy McQuaig is a Canadian journalist, columnist, non-fiction author and social critic. She is best known for her series of best-selling books that challenge the dominant free-market economic ideology of recent decades. Her books make the case for a more egalitarian distribution of power, income and wealth. The National Post newspaper has described McQuaig as "Canada's Michael Moore".
Canada and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia share robust economic ties; Saudi Arabia represents Canada's second largest trading partner in the Middle East, a relation that was bolstered in February 2014 with the purchase of C$15 billion worth of Canadian arms by Saudi Arabia. Until August 2018, there were over 16,000 Saudi students on government scholarships in Canada.
The Lionel Gelber Prize is a literary award for English non-fiction books on foreign policy. Founded in 1989 by Canadian diplomat Lionel Gelber, the prize awards "the world’s best non-fiction book in English on foreign affairs that seeks to deepen public debate on significant international issues." A prize of CA$50,000 is awarded to the winner. The award is presented annually by the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy at the University of Toronto.
Christina Alexandra Freeland is a Canadian politician serving as the tenth and current deputy prime minister of Canada since 2019 and the minister of finance since 2020. A member of the Liberal Party, Freeland represents the Toronto riding of University—Rosedale in the House of Commons. She was first appointed to Cabinet following the 2015 federal election and is the first woman to hold the finance portfolio.
Canada–Ukraine relations are the bilateral ties between Canada and Ukraine.
Canada–China relations, or Sino-Canadian relations, officially date back to 1942, when Canada sent an ambassador to China. Before then, Canada had been represented by the British ambassador. The Communist victory (1949) in the Chinese Civil War caused a break in relations that lasted until 1970, when Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau became one of the first Western leaders to recognize the People's Republic of China.
Lu Guanqiu was a Chinese billionaire entrepreneur, and the founder of Wanxiang Group. He was the 18th richest person in China, according to the Hurun Report China Rich List 2013, the 286th richest person in the world, and reportedly the richest person in Zhejiang Province. He was a delegate to the Chinese National People's Congress.
The National Business Book Award is an award presented to Canadian business authors. The award, presented every year since 1985, is sponsored by Bennett Jones, The Globe and Mail, and The Walrus, DeGroote, and supported by CPA Canada and with prize management by Freedman & Associates.
Ahmed Hussen is a Canadian lawyer and politician who has been serving as the Minister of International Development since July 26, 2023. A member of the Liberal Party, Hussen has also sat as the Member of Parliament (MP) for the Toronto-area the riding of York South—Weston since the 2015 federal election. He previously served as the Minister of Housing, Diversity and Inclusion from 2021-2023, Minister of families, children and social development from 2019 to 2021 and the minister of immigration, refugees and citizenship from 2017 to 2019. He is the first Somali-Canadian to be elected to the House of Commons and the first to hold a federal Cabinet position.
Marco Mendicino is a Canadian politician who has been the Member of Parliament for Eglinton—Lawrence in the House of Commons since 2015. He served as the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship from 2019 to 2021 and the Minister of Public Safety from 2021 to 2023.
William Francis Morneau Jr. is a Canadian businessman and former Liberal Party politician who served as minister of finance and member of Parliament (MP) for Toronto Centre from 2015 to 2020.
The 43rd Canadian Parliament was in session from December 5, 2019, to August 15, 2021, with the membership of its Lower House, the House of Commons of Canada, having been determined by the results of the 2019 federal election held on October 21, 2019. Parliament officially resumed on December 5, 2019, with the election of a new Speaker, Anthony Rota, followed by a Speech from the Throne the following day. On August 15, 2021, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau advised Governor General Mary Simon to dissolve Parliament and issue the writ of election, leading to a 5-week election campaign period for the 2021 federal election.
The Canadian federal budget for the fiscal years of 2020–21 and 2021–22 was presented to the House of Commons by finance minister Chrystia Freeland on 19 April 2021. The Canadian government did not produce a budget in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Instead, the government produced a series of economic updates and stimulus plans throughout the year.
Guy Saint-Jacques is a Canadian retired diplomat who served as Canada's ambassador to China from 26 September 2012 until 9 October 2016.
The following is a timeline of the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada:
The foreign policy of Justin Trudeau is Canada's foreign policy since Justin Trudeau became Prime Minister in November 2015. Mélanie Joly has served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs since October 2021.
The Canadian federal budget for the fiscal years of 2022–23 was presented to the House of Commons by Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland on 7 April 2022.