Hively demonstrates unequivocally that "the rich get richer and the poor get poorer". John Hively sees any economic downturn as nothing more than an adjustment to the distribution of wealth and income, and not in favour of working people. Using statistics from the Commerce Department and other sources, and beginning with the Great Depression, Hively traces how recessions begin, how corporations and financial markets are interconnected, and describes the consequences of current distribution of wealth and income practices. His economic analysis and historical comparisons blend to show that the current practice of distribution of wealth and income has left a huge concentration of wealth at the top. During the last 30 years, income and wealth in North America have increasingly shifted from those who work for a living to an economically and politically connected, but small, group of affluent people: in almost all categories the upper 10 per cent of American families soared, while the remaining 90 per cent either stagnated, or at the lower end, actually declined. By clarifying how the economy actually functions (which is radically different than what readers have been led to believe), and through the subject of financial markets, globalisation, big corporations and CEO millionaires, Hively is able to show that as these trends continue to unfold, the wealthiest are accumulating ever-increasing riches, and warns that this growing income gap will prove to be a destabilising factor.