One of the most durable myths of US political economy is that we take from the rich and give to the poor - penalising the rich for their hard work and rewarding the undeserving. Mark Mattern turns that story on its head. Documenting the everyday, institutionalised ways that income and wealth are transferred upward in the United States, Mattern shows how in fact the bottom subsidises the top.

His provocative analysis, describing in detail the processes and policy choices that systematically favour the rich, is both a tale of "Robin Hood in reverse" and a call for a more equitable, democratic political economy.