
The One Percent
Jamie Johnson, heir to the Johnson & Johnson fortune, turns his camera on the wealth gap he first touched on in Born Rich, this time asking how one percent of Americans came to control nearly half the country's wealth. He interviews economist Milton Friedman, who coined the term trickle-down effect, and pushes back on him directly, then sits with Robert Reich, Bill Gates Sr., Ralph Nader, Nicole Buffett, and arms dealer Adnan Khashoggi to hear how the wealthy justify or question their own position. Johnson also leaves the interview room: he tours a run-down housing project in Chicago, rides along with a taxi driver, and visits Florida's sugar industry to see the labor underneath the profits. The film's sharpest material comes from Johnson's own access, using his family name to get into a private conference where the rich are coached on preserving their fortunes. The tone stays wry rather than angry, but the question underneath is blunt: what happens to a democracy when its money concentrates this far at the top.