Over the last 30 days, I read several new books. The top ten (all published in the last twelve months) are
- (5.0) The Velvet Rope Economy: How Inequality Became Big Business by Nelson D. Schwartz (Doubleday, 2020)
- (4.5) Broken Faith: Inside the World of Faith Fellowship, One of America’s Most Dangerous Cults by Mitch Weiss and Holbrook Mohr (Hanover Square Press, 2020)
- (4.5) Upstream: The Quest to Solve Problems Before they Happen by Dan Heath (Avid Reader Press, 2020)
- (4.0) When my Time Comes: Conversations About Whether Those Who Are Young Should Have the Right to Determine When Life Should End by Diane Rehm (Alfred A. Knopf, 2020)
- (4.0) Five Loaves, Two Fish, Twelve Volunteers: Growing a Relational Food Ministry by Elizabeth Mae Magill (Upper Room Books, 2019)
- (4.0) Welcoming the Future Church: How to Reach, Teach, and Engage Young Adults by Jonathan Pokluda (Baker Books, 2020)
- (4.0) Leading with Gratitude: Eight Leadership Practices for Extraordinary Business Results by Chester Elton and Adrian Gostick (Harper Business, 2020)
- (3.5) Deaths of Despair and the Future of Capitialism by Anne Case and Angus Deaton (Princeton University Press, 2020)
- (3.5) Scandalous Witness: A Little Political Manifesto for Christians by Lee C. Camp (Eerdmans, 2020)
- (3.0) It’s Not Over: Leaving Behind Disappointment and Learningto Dream Again by Joshua Gagnon (W Publishing Group, 2020)
So What?
We live in a time of incredible economic inequality. Nearly everyone knows about actual velvet ropes that divide those who get in from those who don’t or who gain admission only after a lengthy wait at a night club or a theme park. The Velvet Rope Economy offers a behind the scenes look at how less visible velvet ropes were created and provides examples of some of the ways they function as standard operating procedures in for profit businesses and have started transforming philanthropy and informing public policy.