October 07, 2016
By Dawn Niederhauser
My name is Dawn Niederhauser, and I am the Director of Development for the Center for Economic and Policy Research. You may have received some emails from me in the past (OK I never signed them, but if you were asked to donate, well, that was me). This time I am writing to you directly because I have some exciting news — and I want to make you an offer that I hope you won’t be able to refuse.
The exciting news first: CEPR’s Co-Director Dean Baker has written a new book! Titled Rigged: How Globalization and the Rules of the Modern Economy Were Structured to Make the Rich Richer, the book looks at the various ways in which the elites rig the game to ensure that income flows upward. It also offers policy prescriptions that would serve to reverse this trend.
Early blurbs are glowing:
“This is an important and compelling book about how the rules governing the American economy have been rigged in favor of those with the wealth and political clout to rig them. Baker shows why and how the nation’s staggering inequality has been the consequence of staggeringly unequal political influence.” writes Robert B. Reich, while Katrina vanden Heuvel of The Nation says “Dean Baker’s timely book Rigged is a must-read for the many who believe the status quo is unsustainable.”
Now, if you know anything at all about CEPR, you know that we provide all of our papers and articles and op-eds and interviews — all of our work — for free. We don’t offer special perks and we don’t have subscription fees. And that goes for many of Dean’s previous books as well — many are available for download for F-R-E-E. They are not copyright protected. In other words, we practice what we preach.
That’s really great for fans of our work, and I know it’s the progressive thing to do, but honestly? It makes my job REALLY hard. On top of that, we aren’t funded by corporate America, unlike other think tanks. All of CEPR’s work, including our publications, is funded by private foundations and individuals like you. All I can say is, CEPR’s one-person development department has its work cut out for it.
So I have a deal for you: If you make a donation to CEPR today — any amount — I will send you an advance copy of the link to Dean’s new book, before anyone else has the opportunity to read about how the changing structure of financial regulation and financial markets has been an important factor in redistributing income upward. Or about how our current broken corporate governance process, in which the people who most immediately determine CEO pay — corporate boards of directors — have little incentive to take serious steps to hold down their pay (which is way higher than it is in other countries).
And if that weren’t enough incentive to give today, if you send us $100 or more, we’ll have the book printed and signed by Dean himself.
The more people who read Dean’s work, the better the chance that someday we can “unrig” the system and create an economy that works for all of us.
Thanks for your support,
Dawn (and Dean, Mark and the rest of CEPR’s hard-working staff)
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