Gouged: why Americans are being ripped off – and what to do about it

How can we fix our pricing crisis? Economic sociologist Lindsay Owens urges tough new rules - and a consumer uprising

Repeat after me: it's not my fault, it's not my fault, it's not my fault." That's the message to frustrated US shoppers in Gouged: The End of a Fair Price - and What That Means for Your Wallet by Lindsay Owens, economic sociologist and head of the Groundwork Collaborative, a progressive Washington thinktank.

Consumer rage is rising and no wonder - we are all living through the reinvention of the rip-off", Owens told the Guardian, an experience that is undermining Americans' trust in the economy. Nothing short of a consumer uprising and a slate of tough new rules is going to fix the problem, she believes.