The Fine Print: How Big Companies Use "Plain English" to Rob You Blind

by David Cay Johnston Narrated by Todd McLaren

Overview

David Cay Johnston has made a name for himself as the defender of the common man, calling out the rich and powerful for cheating the system at the expense of everyone else. Whether he's exposing unjust loopholes in the tax code that help the rich get richer or pointing out how powerful corporations pocket government subsidies at excessive taxpayer expense, Johnston is an eloquent town crier for justice and equality.



Now this bestselling author has turned his attention to the sneaky stipulations hidden in the fine print of just about every contract and government rule. Johnston has been known to whip out a utility bill-any utility bill-and explain line by line what all that mumbo jumbo actually means (and it doesn't mean anything good, unless you happen to be the utility company). Within all that jargon, disclosed in accordance with all requirements to you, the unsuspecting customer, lie the tools many companies use to rob you blind. Even worse is what's missing-all the contractually binding clauses that companies hide elsewhere, yet still enforce.



The Fine Print is essential listening for anyone who wants to wrest power back from devious corporations and end their longstanding consumer abuse.

Editorial Reviews

The Washington Post

David Cay Johnston is one of the few journalists who understand and write about the inner workings of the U.S. tax code. He's made a fine career of chronicling how large companies and the wealthy have plundered the government's coffers, often with help from the politicians who write our tax laws. His accolades include a Pulitzer Prize for exposing outrageous loopholes used to shelter vast amounts of income…The Fine Print expands on that theme, showing a gamut of ways in which big corporations, especially regulated utilities, cheat ordinary people (as well as each other) out of their money. Some of the examples could leave you feeling so disgusted and powerless that you might wonder if you were better off not knowing. But if you enjoy learning about the dirty little secrets behind the ways powerful businesses make their profits, you probably will like this book.
—Jonathan Weil

From the Publisher

"Todd McLaren narrates at a good pace, keeping the energy high throughout. Reading with conviction and enthusiasm, he makes it sound as if the words are his own." ---AudioFile

JANUARY 2013 - AudioFile

After listening to this audiobook, listeners are sure to pay more attention to the fine print in all areas of their lives. Johnson unveils many of the ways that big business—including railroads, utilities, banks, and others—are taking advantage of tax breaks and regulations and costing customers and taxpayers millions. Todd McLaren narrates at a good pace, keeping the energy high throughout. Reading with conviction and enthusiasm, he makes it sound as if the words are his own. He also uses a variety of accents for the quotations, which nicely breaks up the performance and adds a touch of humor as he varies his tone and pitch to fit the person being quoted. E.N. © AudioFile 2013, Portland, Maine

Kirkus Reviews

Veteran investigative reporter Johnston reveals how businesses, with the consent of government agencies, rip off consumers in plain sight. This book completes a kind of trilogy, after 2003's Perfectly Legal (about tax scams) and 2007's Free Lunch (about government subsidies). The "fine print" refers to a variety of bills--telephone, electric, water, insurance, credit card, hospital--and other documents that technically disclose costs to the bill payers but are intended to obscure as many hidden costs as possible. Although Johnston's research is meant to shame the powerful for accumulating eye-popping wealth by exploiting the less fortunate, the book also serves to empower recipients of the bills so they can demand repayment and maybe even systemic reform. In a closing chapter, Johnston recommends self-education by consumers, and he provides a start by delineating, for example, how to analyze a utility bill in order to fully understand the many clever surcharges and fees. The author hopes to encourage organized campaigns aimed at all levels and branches of government. The influence of the ballot box can speak truth to power, Johnston believes--perhaps naively but with heartwarming passion. Minimum-wage laws once seemed hopeless to achieve, he writes, yet they are now prevalent because consumers banded together effectively. Investigative journalism at its best, as Johnston seeks to comfort the afflicted while afflicting the comfortable.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940170688975
Publisher:	Tantor Audio
Publication date:	10/15/2012
Edition description:	Unabridged

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