Book Review: Billionaire Wilderness

Billionaire Wilderness: The Ultra-Wealthy and the Remaking of the American West by Justin Farrell (Princeton University Press 2020)

Teton County in Wyoming has the highest per capita income of any county in the United States at $194,485.00. New York County (Manhattan) with $148,002.00 is a distant second. Eighty percent of the income in the county where Jackson Hole is located is derived from investment income. These numbers from 2015 indicate the disparity of wealth between those who earn their income through labor and those receiving income from investments. Farrell interviews hundreds of people from both segments of the spectrum and highlights these conversations. It appears that the wealthy are taking over the west and using environmental philanthropy to largely benefit and protect their own turf.  “Wyoming is America’s tax haven; Bloomberg calls it ‘America’s wealth-friendliest state.’ This arrangement is made possible by the state’s lucrative oil, gas, and coal industries and is spurred on by its proud antipathy toward government and taxes.’”

The author grew up in Wyoming and his mother ran an in-home daycare and cleaned houses while his dad worked on the railroad. Today he is a Yale Professor in the School of the Environment. This dual identity of the common man from the west who “makes it” at a prestigious institution is the epitome of what those with wealth are trying to do only in reverse. The wealthy dress like ranchers and drive pickups to become “the local” while living, often for only a few weeks per year, in mansions costing tens of millions of dollars. Most of those they hire for childcare, landscaping, and homebuilding needs are Latino (Latinx) and many are undocumented. The workers are happy to have jobs but cannot afford housing, work multiple occupations, and just eke by.

Farrell spent five years researching and interviewing to write this book. The book is a sociological study of a community where the rich chase beautiful, tax-friendly places and as the author says, “game the system. In most counties in the United States, the population estimates from the census are similar to the number of people claiming residency for tax purposes. Not in Teton County. It has the largest discrepancy between the number of people who actually live there and the number of people who claim to for tax purposes.”

Billionaire Wilderness is a challenging read. Professor Farrell creates a better understanding of the various viewpoints while discussing the aspects of the dynamic society being studied. He gives readers an insight into what appears to be a societal enigma.