Leid Stories - 05/31/13

Oligarchs Trump Plutocrats; They're America’s New Ruling Class They’re young, absurdly wealthy, supercorporatist tech gurus—and, with the Obama administration, have become a de-facto and “potentially dominant” ruling class in America, says Leid Stories guest Joel Kotkin, who for more than 30 years has been tracking the footprints of power and influence globally. This group, says Kotkin, has quietly amassed unprecedented power and influence, and in many ways is driving domestic and foreign policy. More contemptible than the 1-Percenters that rile critics of corporate greed, these .001-Percenters are large and in charge—“gaming the system, says Kotkin, “and jerking the rest of us around.”