In this searing and entertaining indictment of the super-rich, Linda McQuaig and Neil Brooks challenge the idea that today’s cavernous income inequality is the result of merit, and reveal how the global economic system has been hijacked by the wealthiest, with disastrous consequences for us all.

The high taxes and strong social programmes of the 1950s, ‘60s and ‘70s gave us sky-high economic growth and rising equality. In recent years, however, we’ve been constantly told that taxes and government spending are bad. McQuaig and Brooks systematically debunk these claims. As their research shows, not only do lower taxes correlate with worse societal outcomes – from health to the environment – they also fail to produce economic prosperity.

A daring challenge to the conventional wisdom, The Trouble with Billionaires provides the most compelling case yet for rejecting the Coalition’s mean-spirited mix of tax breaks for the rich and austerity for the rest.