As you’ll recall, we did our fair share of explaining why Wall Street matters, on the episode featuring Bill Cohan. Today we’re doing a 180 with financial journalist and author Rana Foroohar. Rana’s book, Maker and Takers: How Wall Street Destroyed Main Street, doesn’t exactly paint our economic system in the best light. The book, just released in paperback, explores how the misguided financial practices and philosophies that nearly toppled the global financial system have infiltrated many US businesses. Rana shows how the “financialization of America,” the trend by which finance and its way of thinking have come to reign supreme, is perpetuating Wall Street’s reign over Main Street, widening the gap between rich and poor, and threatening the future of the American Dream. And since it’s not everyday that we have a Financial Times columnist in the studio, we also talked a good bit about the global economy, including Germany, Brexit, and China. Rana is a great storyteller, and it’s through stories of both “Takers,” those stifling job creation while lining their own pockets, and “Makers,” businesses serving the real economy, that she shows how we can reverse these trends for a better path forward. If you’re like me and an avid consumer of financial journalism, follow Rana on Twitter for some of the best reporting around. “Better Off” is sponsored by Betterment. We love feedback so please leave us a rating or review in iTunes. "Better Off" theme music is by Joel Goodman, www.joelgoodman.com. For a recap of every episode, visit https://www.betterment.com/resources/topics/inside-betterment/better-off-podcast/ Connect with me at these places for all my content: http://www.jillonmoney.com/ https://twitter.com/jillonmoney https://www.facebook.com/JillonMoney https://www.instagram.com/jillonmoney/ https://www.youtube.com/c/JillSchlesinger https://www.linkedin.com/in/jillonmoney/ https://soundcloud.com/jill-schlesinger http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/jill-on-money http://betteroffpodcast.com/ https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/better-off-jill-schlesinger/id431167790?mt=2 To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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“What did the council decide on item 42?” — answered with the speaker and the moment.

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