Overview

An illuminating history and groundbreaking investigation tracing how a single trade organization turned itself into the most dangerous political weapon in America   When Americans hear the words “Chamber of Commerce,” many still think of the local business associations that spruce up Main Streets and sponsor Little League teams around the country. But the United States Chamber of Commerce is a different animal altogether. The Chamber was originally founded to give big business a voice during the long—and now almost inconceivable—period in American history that saw the rise of workers’ rights, consumer protections, and environmental awareness as national priorities. But over time, driven by an antigovernment ideology and its desire for financial and political power, the Chamber metastasized into a fighting force designed to protect the worst excesses of American industry.   The Chamber, through its veiled corporate sponsors, can take credit for some of the most disturbing trends in American life: the reversal of environmental protections, the destruction of unions and worker protections, the rise of virulent antigovernment ideology, the enlarged role of money in campaigns, and the creation of “astroturf” movements as cover for a corporate agenda. Through its propaganda, lobbying, and campaign cash, the Chamber has created a right-wing monster that even it struggles to control, a conservative movement that is destabilizing American democracy as never before.   The Influence Machine tells this history as a series of gripping narratives that take us into the backrooms of Washington, where the battles over how our country is run and regulated are fought, and then out into the world, where we see how the Chamber’s campaigns play out in real lives. In the end, Alyssa Katz reveals the hidden weaknesses of this seeming juggernaut and shows how its antidemocratic agenda can be reversed. Praise for The Influence Machine   “Important and probing . . . a valuable and a sobering contribution to the study of power in American society . . . Katz has assembled a work of synthesis and insight. . . . The chamber has, she argues, effectively countered the influence of labor unions and contributed to the widening economic divide in American society. Those points are made forcefully and backed up impressively.”—Los Angeles Times   “An urgent look at the ‘political assault weapon’ that is transforming the country . . . [Katz] does invaluable work in tracing how the U.S. Chamber of Commerce has been a relentless engine for pressing a ‘business of enterprise unfettered by government.’ . . . An eye-opening, maddening read.”—Kirkus Reviews   “With clarity and verve, but without polemic, investigative journalist Katz describes the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s evolution into a many-armed behemoth. . . . [She] illustrates with several examples of how the organization has managed to influence courts, strong-arm Congress, cripple federal agencies, and sway the public with ‘voter education’ ads—and, more recently, it has exported cutthroat American business practices abroad.”—Publishers Weekly

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Praise for Alyssa Katz s Our Lot: How Real Estate Came to Own Us [A] trenchant chronicle of how all that had been sacred about home lending was upended, through a series of government policies that were enacted with seemingly noble intentions broadening home ownership and priming the economic pump but ended up turning homes into profit centers rather than places to live. Tom Vanderbilt, The New York Times Book Review Her reporting was prescient. . . . Katz [is] a talented, insightful [reporter], and [her book] advances our understanding of the mortgage meltdown. Kristin Downey, The Washington Post [A] richly detailed analysis of the recent (and ignominious) history of the American real estate market . . . Katz writes with authority and empathy. The many people the author interviews, from the single mother in Cleveland who lost her house just two years after buying it to the family living near Sacramento whose new home is already falling apart, become the heroes, victims and sometimes culprits in this gripping account of collective irresponsibility. Publishers Weekly (starred review)

Important and probing . . . a valuable and a sobering contribution to the study of power in American society . . . [Alyssa] Katz has assembled a work of synthesis and insight. . . . The chamber has, she argues, effectively countered the influence of labor unions and contributed to the widening economic divide in American society. Those points are made forcefully and backed up impressively. --Los Angeles Times An urgent look at the 'political assault weapon' that is transforming the country . . . [Katz] does invaluable work in tracing how the U.S. Chamber of Commerce has been a relentless engine for pressing a 'business of enterprise unfettered by government.' . . . An eye-opening, maddening read. --Kirkus Reviews With clarity and verve, but without polemic, investigative journalist Katz describes the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's evolution into a many-armed behemoth. . . . [She] illustrates with several examples of how the organization has managed to influence courts, strong-arm Congress, cripple federal agencies, and sway the public with 'voter education' ads--and, more recently, it has exported cutthroat American business practices abroad. --Publishers Weekly

Author Information

Alyssa Katz is the author of Our Lot: How Real Estate Came to Own Us and is a member of the editorial board of the New York Daily News. She is the former editor of The New York World, an accountability journalism project at Columbia Journalism School, and has written for The American Prospect, Salon, Mother Jones, The Next American City, and other publications. She lives in Brooklyn, New York.

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