The very rich have gotten a lot richer these past few decades, even during the current economic crisis, hile most Americans have not. How have they managed to restructure the economy to reap the lion's share, tearing new holes in the safety net and saddling all of us with increased debt and risk? In this book the authors trace the rise of the winner-take-all economy back to a major transformation of American politics in the late 1970s, under a Democratic...

In The Great Risk Shift, Jacob S. Hacker lays bare this unsettling new economic climate, showing how it has come about, what it is doing to our families, and how we can fight back. Behind this shift, he contends, is the ʺpersonal responsibility crusade, ʺ eagerly embraced by corporate leaders and Republican politicians who speak of a nirvana of economic empowerment, an ʺownership societyʺ in which Americans are free to choose. But as Hacker reveals,...

How can the American social welfare system be repaired so that workers and families receive adequate protection and, if necessary, provision from the ravages of the market? This book addresses this fundamental problem and analyses how the 'privatization of risk' has increased hardships for American families and increased inequality. It also proposes a series of solutions that would distribute the burdens of risks more broadly and expand the social...