Foolish Finance is a Science. It is the Science of parting a Fool and his Finances. It also has a Great Mission. This Mission is the evolution of Plutocrats from Other People's Money. -from "What Is Foolish Finance?" "Blessed are the Poor, for they shall be robbed." "Thou shalt not kill-except at a profit." This classic of social satire, first published in 1905, is just as damning today, with the gap between the Haves and the Have Nots are large as it was during the Gilded Age, whose excesses inspired this work. In this devil's dictionary of financial crimes and misdemeanors, you'll find cutting definitions of institutions the less-than-monied classes know and hate--insurance companies, public utilities, banks ("a popular device for protecting the Poor Man's Money from Burglers in order that the Rich Man may break through and steal")-as well as incisive looks at "the system" as "promoter and pickpocket" and as "capitalist and counterfeiter." Bitter and biting, this send-up of runaway capitalism is as insightful as it is outrageously funny. Gideon Wurdz is believed to have been the pen name of CHARLES WAYLAND TOWNE (b. 1875). Wurdz also wrote 1904's The Foolish Dictionary."