Understanding the power of the corporations and how to take the struggle directly to them.
It’s no secret that “the 1%” – the business elite that commands the largest corporations and the connected network of public and private institutions- exercise enormous control over U.S. government. While this control is usually attributed to campaign donations and lobbying, Levers of Power argues that corporate power derives from control over the economic resources on which daily life depends. Government officials must constantly strive to keep capitalists happy, lest they go on “capital strike” – that is, refuse to invest in particular industries or locations, or move their holdings to other countries – and therefore impose material hardship on specific groups or the economy as a whole. For this reason, even politicians who are not dependent on corporations for their electoral success must fend off the interruption of corporate investment.
