Disclaimer: I had the pleasure of helping Ed by doing a bit of background research for him.
I am certainly a bit biased, as I helped on the book, but I think this is one of the best books of 2016. And I don't think my bias is coloring my view too much, as before I helped on this book I was a big fan of his previous book, Unintended Consequences, and had even assigned it in my Political Economic Thought class.
Some of my favorite parts of this book are:
* The section asking if the middle class really is being hollowed out. The answer is a convincing no - comparisons that show median incomes are falling are skewed by lower paying jobs acquired by immigrants.
* The section examining how much money a poor person receives in government benefits. It is a surprisingly difficult question to answer, but this book gives a good estimate with a defensible methodology.
* The discussion of income mobility - which is alive and well in the USA.
The entire book is thought provoking, and I highly recommend it.
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