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

Over the years, I have wondered why my bills kept going up in spite of promises from various industries and companies describing how they were going to pass the savings on to me, and my bills would be going down. By all accounts, my phone bill should have gone down once I started buying my own phones and making fewer calls. My electric bill from Consolidated Edison should have shown a steady decline, as they promised it would when they were freed from regulation. My cable bill should have remained pretty steady at $30.00 a month like it was 15 years ago instead of appreciate to $130.00 a month, especially with a bundle.Author David Cay Johnston was wondering the same thing, only he took it a number of steps further and began investigating how common such occurrences were across the land, and he found out plenty. Electric companies serving Louisiana and neighboring states were charging their customers for electricity from streetlamps that were not working, even from lamps that had never been installed, and they had been doing so for decades.The bottom line is that many of these big companies have "market power," the ability to raise prices in spite of competition and weak economies. Instead of the competition keeping prices low companies collude to keep the prices high, even raising them. They may not have to pay the corporate taxes to the government but can charge you for them as if they had. They are allowed to charge you $35.00 for overdrafts even though it costs them less than a penny to make the adjustment. They can create their own oligopolies over municipalities, counties, states, even regions. Companies that offer enormous sums to buy the local power or water company will make it up in increased charges even if they cannot justify them. They are able to do this because they lobby and contribute to politicians who appoint industry friendly candidates to regulatory agencies, allow add-on costs, such as surcharges equipment or services that don't exist, and company threats to move out of town or the state unless they are forgiven state taxes for years or even decades.One of the more insidious breaches of consumer rights is arbitration, once only used in contracts between companies. They are in the contracts you make when buying a car, getting a home equity loan, or the franchise you buy. It keeps you from suing. To make things worse, you must submit to arbitration on the home turf of the company or bank even if it means it's across the country before an arbitrator they have probably used many times before, and to whom you must pay a heafty percentage if he or she rules in your favor.While these companies market themselves as restrained by regulation, they in fact make regulation work in their behalf. With government sanction and blessing, they have made the consumer pay more for every conceivable service, real or imagined. They are not interested in an unfettered free market because their prices would have to come down, and they are only interested in maintaining their "pricing," a euphemism for profit.David Cay Johnston elevates a book of mundane facts to the status of a thriller. It's a thriller because it has a plot, in fact many of them, of companies that can bring their financial might to bear to rob you blind. He weaves these stories like a suspense novel only it is sickeningly real.Fortunately, "The Fine Print" isn't in fine print. It's one reason why you need to read this.

Mr. Johnston is a financial investigative reporter. This is his third book. The first two were "Perfectly Legal" and "Free lunch". He has appeared in a documentary and is often interviewed on news channels relative to financial matters. Now about this new book, if anything it was more depressing than the first two. In chapter after chapter he spells out the mismanagement of our tax dollars not only at the Federal level but also State. It was very hard to read. I could only take a chapter at a time. I would put it down and start again another day. The money being given to politicians is mind boggling and the largess given in return inflates the profits, particularly of the largest corporations by providing ways to hide profits so little or no taxes are paid. One issue happened in 2004. The corporations that had moved American jobs to China and elsewhere were required to pay 35% tax on profits but only when returned to America. The Congress in its wisdom granted them a special tax of 5%. The bill was called "the Jobs Creation Act of 2004". It was passed with 205 out of 221 Republicans and 75 of 199 Democrats. The corporations brought home $312 Billion. While there was a promise of American jobs, nowhere in the bill did it specify nor was there any provision to monitor. In actual fact thousands were laid off. As an example Pfizer closed whole factories. The workforce at the end of 2004 was 115,000. By 2009 it was down to 75,000. Hewlett- Packard immediately fired 14,000 employees. Other industries did the same. Astonishing that such a disgrace could occur under the guise of helping American workers. Believe it or not in 2012 these same corporations have accumulated $1 Trillion in untaxed profits. I am well aware that consideration is being made to repeat this once again which will deny proper tax payments and destroy several hundred thousand more jobs. Once again it will be the Republican Party most in favor. Regardless of who becomes President, this will be approved. Keep in mind that all the while American manufacturers producing in America pay 35%. Can you not see how wrong this is? There are specific chapters about abuses in pipe lines, railroads, waste removal, telecommunications, film production, etc. Each time he clearly states the facts which beg for correction. His final chapter is entitled "Solutions". The most important concerns the 2010 Supreme Court decision to grant corporations unlimited expenditures to influence elections. He particularly chastises Chief Justice Roberts for giving them vast new rights. He mentions previous bad decisions by the Court such as the Dred Scott decision that stated that slaves were not persons protected by the Constitution. He pleads that the Congress take action to overturn or that new justices might reverse. Since the decision was 5 to 4 that could happen but in the meantime untold damage will have occurred to our election system. I will end here by imploring others to read this and his other two books and do what you can to restore a Congress that truly cares about American workers.Jack B. WaltersOctober 10, 2012

Really good book!

David Cay Johnston's trio of books exposing corporate double-dealing and the creeping menace of "corporate socialism" should be compulsory reading for anyone who wants to understand some of the important reasons why we are in the current economic and political mess. True, they are (understandably) focused on the American situation, but many of the dubious activities detailed are now also common here in Australia, and indeed in most Western developed countries. While "The Fine Print" does go over some of the same territory covered in "Free Lunch," such as misuse of 401k plans, it does so in a lively and always readable manner that just serves to reinforce the points.It's not the whole story, though, and I would recommend reading his books in conjunction with others such as Nicholas Shaxson's excellent "Treasure Islands," and Mark Blyth's "Austerity, the History of a Dangerous Idea," in order to get a broader picture of how the increasing dominance of rich elites is distorting world politics and exacerbating inequality.David Cay Johnston's books are crying out to be made into a really forceful documentary movie or TV series. Sadly, few of the people who should know about this stuff ever read books any more these days, so that may be the only way they will ever get the message.For those who do enjoy reading, however, and have a real desire to be informed, this, and its companions, are vital texts.

This book does exactly what the cover summary says: It reveals in vivid detail how we are being cheated and ripped off by politicians and corporate America. Warning: Reading this book will leave you feeling very pissed off!

Paper quality is bad however the content is great, author knows what's wrong with system and explain in simple way. Examples gives in book are mostly applicable to US but relatable.