The Riches Of This Land

"Why are so many people, especially middle-class people, so angry? Why do so many people feel they can’t get ahead no matter what they do? Jim Tankersley has answers to these simple but powerful questions. Spoiler alert: No, it’s not immigrants, and, no, the aggrieved are not wrong to feel they’re getting screwed. Tankersley is a veteran New York Times reporter, but he didn’t produce a conventional economics tome. His reporting has revealed an alternate narrative where fighting discrimination and unchaining the doors of opportunity to women, so-called minorities and immigrants is actually what produced the great post-WWII boom, while two big economic shocks eroded it – along with economic policies that really do favor the rich and richer. Most important, he charts a path to rebuilding a solid middle class. Sound like a dream? He says the alternative is a nightmare."