Wall Street's War on Workers

“Wall Street’s War on Workers is incisive, infuriating, and yet inspiring. Leopold upends conventional wisdom, not only pinpointing the causes of mass layoffs but providing a blueprint for what we can do about them. This is a highly readable and thoroughly researched analysis; it should be required reading for workers, organizers, and policy makers alike.”

—Rebecca Givan, associate professor, Labor Studies and Employment Relations, Rutgers University

“Les Leopold cuts through a lot of myths and explains the dynamics of mass layoffs and the reality that the white working class did not desert Democrats—the Democrats deserted them. Leopold also offers ingenious and practical solutions to take back our politics from the plutocracy.”

—Robert Kuttner, founding co-editor, The American Prospect

“After reading Les Leopold’s vivid description of how two little words [‘stock buybacks’] affect factory closings, mass layoffs, income shifts, and polarized politics, I’ve come to think of stock buybacks as the key, not just to why things have gone wrong, but how, if we choose, we can make them go right. . . . This book gave me a new lens to see the world.”

—Robert Krulwich, former co-host of WNYC’s Radiolab

“Les Leopold’s latest book, Wall Street’s War on Workers, is a must-read for anyone concerned with income inequity and employment instability in the US economy. Leopold locates the growing disaffection of the white working-class voter with Democratic candidates in the mass layoffs that have been characteristic of American capitalism since the 1980s. Yielding to the predatory demands of Wall Street, leading Democrats have failed to confront the prime cause of mass layoffs: trillions upon trillions of corporate dollars devoted to stock buybacks to jack up stock prices. Leopold lays out a comprehensive policy agenda for Democrats to stop the mass layoffs and win back the white working class.”

—William Lazonick, professor emeritus of economics, University of Massachusetts

“Wall Street’s War on Workers is a breath of fresh air and a really necessary book. It wonderfully exemplifies Les Leopold’s distinctive knack for cutting through the mystifications that shroud the sources of inequality and insecurity in American life. And it cuts to the heart of the scapegoating that the Wall Street looters depend on to cover their tracks.”

—Adolph Reed, Jr., professor emeritus of political science, University of Pennsylvania

“Leopold sheds light on a crisis that has received far too little attention in the public sphere. Through careful analysis, he makes clear that the social and economic impacts of mass layoffs are not only far-reaching and devastating but potentially preventable. Tragically, political parties in the US have been all-but-indifferent to the suffering wrought. By showing a way forward, Leopold removes the excuse that there’s nothing significant to be done.”

—Douglas Stone, lecturer on law, Harvard Law School; founder, Triad Consulting Group; coauthor, Difficult Conversations and Thanks for the Feedback

"Leopold offers a contrarian yet compelling take on America’s “white working class” . . . [and says] Democrats in 2024 ignore this massive, potentially sympathetic voting bloc at their peril."

—Booklist (starred review)

"The right to a good job is the fundamental pillar of a decent and secure life. The Left must take up this fight if we’re serious at all about building a working-class movement to challenge inequality. Wall Street’s War on Workers is an essential tool for this task."

—Jacobin