{"product_id":"book-en0b","title":"Only the Rich Can Play","description":"\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eIn a \u003ci\u003eWinners Take All\u003c\/i\u003e meets \u003ci\u003eThis Town\u003c\/i\u003e narrative, a \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e bestselling author tells the story of the creation of a massive tax break, in which political and economic elites attend to the care and feeding of the super-rich, and inequality compounds.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDavid Wessel's incredible tale of how Washington works-and why the rich keep getting richer-starts when a Silicon Valley entrepreneur develops an idea intended as a way to help poor people that will save rich people money on their taxes. He organizes and pays for an effective lobbying effort that pushes his idea into law with little scrutiny or fine-tuning by congressional or Treasury tax experts-and few safeguards against abuse. With an unbeatable pair of high-profile sponsors, bumper-sticker simplicity and deft political marketing, the Opportunity Zone became an unnoticed part of the 2017 Trump tax bill.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe gold rush followed immediately thereafter.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDavid Wessel follows the money to see who profited from this plan that was supposed to spur development of blighted areas and help people out of poverty: the Las Vegas strip, the Portland (Oregon) Ritz-Carlton, the Mall of America, and self-storage facilities-lucrative areas where the one percent can park money profitably and avoid capital gains taxes. And the best part: unlike other provisions for eliminating capital gains taxes (inheritance, for example) you don't have to die to take advantage of this one.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWessel provides vivid portraits of the proselytizers, political influencers, motivational speakers, consultants, real estate dealmakers, and individual money-seekers looking to take advantage of this twenty-first century bonanza. He looks at places for which Opportunity Zones were supposedly designed (Baltimore, for example) and how little money they've drawn. And he finds a couple of places (Erie, PA) where zones are actually doing what they were supposed to, a lesson on how a better designed program might have helped more left-behind places. But what Wessel reveals is the gritty reality: The dark underbelly of a system tilted in favor of the few, with the many left out in the cold\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Hachette Book Group","offers":[{"title":"Audiobook","offer_id":49348801331504,"sku":"BDen0b","price":24.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Audio CD","offer_id":49348801397040,"sku":"ZEen0b","price":40.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0879\/2784\/9264\/files\/228073-en0b-Square.jpg?v=1734234454","url":"https:\/\/downpour.com\/products\/book-en0b","provider":"Downpour","version":"1.0","type":"link"}