The top 1 percent of Americans control 40 percent of the nation's wealth. And, as Joseph E. Stiglitz explains, while those at the top enjoy the best health care, education, and benefits of wealth, they fail to realize that "their fate is bound up with how the other 99 percent live."

Stiglitz draws on his deep understanding of economics to show that growing inequality is not inevitable: moneyed interests compound their wealth by stifling true, dynamic capitalism. They have made America the most unequal advanced industrial country while crippling growth, trampling on the rule of law, and undermining democracy. The result: a divided society that cannot tackle its most pressing problems. With characteristic insight, Stiglitz examines our current state, then teases out its implications for democracy, for monetary and budgetary policy, and for globalization. He closes with a plan for a more just and prosperous future.

1. America's 1 (one) Percent Problem 2. Rent seeking and the making of an unequal society 3. Markets and inequality 4. Why it matters 5. A democracy in peril 6. 1984 is upon us 7. Justice for all? How inequality is eroding the Rule of Law 8. The battle of the budget 9. A macroeconomic policy and a Central Bank by and for the 1 (one) percent 10. The way forward : another world is possible.