Prosperity Lost [Hardcover]

Philip Mattera (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Calling the 1980s "a decade of denial," Mattera ( Inside U.S. Business ) scrutinizes the widening gap between rich and poor, the shrinking middle class, increasing feminization of poverty and declining black enrollments in college. Opposed to Reaganite trickle-down ideology, he favors the rebuilding of federal housing programs decimated during the '80s, tax-law changes to end merger mania, ceilings on incomes of the rich. Some of his proposals seem utopian or sketchy--for instance, a guaranteed income plan, or the large-scale creation of noncapitalist, worker and consumer cooperatives--but Mattera grounds his blueprint for change in an astute analysis of the past decade of laissez-faire greed. In timely, hard-hitting arguments, he urges that corporate polluters pay a penalty, and that adverse environmental impacts of production be made part of the accounting process at both the national and corporate levels.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Mattera, a former writer for Fortune , presents an eye-opening and depressing look at the way most Americans now live. Through anecdotal evidence and shrewd economic analysis, he shows how "the American dream is becoming the impossible dream." Much of this book details the "cruel legacy" of the Reagan years: shrinking wages, trickle-down economics, the greed factor, electronic sweatshops, the rollback of unionism, and crises in health, housing, education, and the quality of life. Mattera argues that bold socialist methods are needed to turn the country around. He calls for not only a redistribution of income, but a redistribution of work and power as well. This troubling, but also challenging, book can be read as a companion piece to some of Michael Harrington's last theoretical writings (e.g., Socialism: Past and Future , LJ 6/1/89). An extensive section of notes is included. Recommended for academic and large public libraries.
- Thomas A. Karel, Franklin & Mar shall Coll. Lib., Lancaster, Pa.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 247 pages
• Publisher: Addison Wesley Publishing Company; 1St Edition edition (January 1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0201198975
• ISBN-13: 978-0201198973
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #10,505,010 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

0 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Insanity Found!, May 16, 1998

By 

cureholder (Las Vegas, NV) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Prosperity Lost (Paperback)

Philip Mattera's anecdotal and statistical analysis of the "loss" of prosperity amounts to nothing more than an intellectually and economically incoherent rehashing of Marxist principles. Fortunately, he is so good at showing the absurd and evil roots of his "thinking" that even the most dense reader will see right through the ideas presented. In this sense, Mr. Mattera has performed an invaluable service for freedom---the equivalent of an antidote for the very ideas he claims to promote.

A specific example: He proposes (since we are "humane" enough to have a minimum wage even though it has been shown unequivocably to destroy jobs and harm the workers at the bottom of the employment ladder), we should also have MAXIMUM wage law, so that entrepreneurs, the people who CREATE all those jobs, will have no further incentive to do so. The idea is simple enough: Mr. Mattera obviously recognizes that the minimum wage law has too subtle an impact, and harms too few people. He proposes to undo decades of development in one fell swoop, preventing millions of jobs from being created and eliminating millions of already-existing jobs. He is ambitious! Of course, this law would have one effect which Mr. Mattera does not openly consider--it would make many more people dependent on the government, which is, of course, the final goal of this Marxist screed. Read it for laughs, and to learn what the enemy calls "thinking."