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Product Description The first book to reveal how the Federal Reserve holds the key to making us more economically equal, written by an author with unparalleled expertise in the real world of financial policy Following the 2008 financial crisis, the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy placed much greater focus on stabilizing the market than on helping struggling Americans. As a result, the richest Americans got a lot richer while the middle class shrank and economic and wealth inequality skyrocketed. In Engine of Inequality, Karen Petrou offers pragmatic solutions for creating more inclusive monetary policy and equality-enhancing financial regulation as quickly and painlessly as possible. Karen Petrou is a leading financial-policy analyst and consultant with unrivaled knowledge of what drives the decisions of federal officials and how big banks respond to financial policy in the real world. Instead of proposing legislation that would never pass Congress, the author provides an insider's look at politically plausible, high-impact financial policy fixes that will radically shift the equality balance. Offering an innovative, powerful, and highly practical solution for immediately turning around the enormous nationwide problem of economic inequality, this groundbreaking book: Presents practical ways America can and should tackle economic inequality with fast-acting results Provides revealing examples of exactly how bad economic inequality in America has become no matter how hard we all work Demonstrates that increasing inequality is disastrous for long-term economic growth, political action, and even personal happiness Explains why your bank's interest rates are still only a fraction of what they were even though the rich are getting richer than ever, faster than ever Reveals the dangers of FinTech and BigTech companies taking over banking Shows how Facebook wants to control even the dollars in your wallet Discusses who shares the blame for our economic inequality, including the Fed, regulators, Congress, and even economists Engine of Inequality: The Fed and the Future of Wealth in America should be required reading for leaders, policymakers, regulators, media professionals, and all Americans wanting to ensure that the nation’s financial policy will be a force for promoting economic equality. Review “[Petrou] draws a direct connection between the Federal Reserve’s decisions and the rich getting richer, with others struggling to get by.”—New York Times DealBook “Petrou’s excellent new book explains how it has been exacerbated and accelerated by the financial policies that were set in place to save the financial system from collapse after the crisis of 2007 and 2008.” —Dylan Schleicher, Editorial Director, Porchlight Books “Karen Petrou has for decades played the quiet role of consultant and adviser to banks, central banks, and large investors, helping them slash through the confusion of constantly evolving monetary and regulatory policy. It’s a job that prioritizes dispassionate analysis over advocacy. Today, that changes, with the publication of her new book.”—Matt Peterson, Barron’s “Banking consultant Karen Petrou is right that Federal Reserve policies have helped the rich.” —Peter Coy, Bloomberg BusinessWeek From the Inside Flap PRAISE FOR ENGINE OF INEQUALITY “Karen Petrou, one of the world’s deepest financial thinkers, puts her finger on the proximate cause of the pre- and post-Covid enormous increase in the stock market and associated growth in extreme U.S. wealth inequality. It’s the Federal Reserve’s ongoing No-Cost Lender of First Resort Policy. Her book is a tour de force—brilliant, fundamental, elucidating, and engaging. It’s also a sad story about well-meaning policy boomeranging badly on the middle class.” —Laurence Kotlikoff, Professor of Economics at Boston University, President of Economic Security Planning, and a New York Times bestselling author “This book is highly critical of Fed policy and wil