دانلود کتاب The Great Divergence: America's Growing Inequality Crisis and What to Do About it

Froom Goodrds.com

As for what it sets out to do -- describe, in well-researched detail, the economic mess that America is in -- it succeeds. We've heard the talking points, and we've seen some details, in bits and pieces, in columns like those of Paul Krugman and Robert Reich. Here, at least, is a resource for anyone who wants to understand, and discuss, the problem in coherent terms.

The picture Mr. Noah describes is alarming enough, in his telling. Inequality in wealth has revived since its low point in Eisenhower's time, certainly inequality took off in Reagan's. Inequality in _income_ is even more unequal, and more alarming, as he shows. Demographic data -- shifts in family and ethnicity -- is one factor, but just one. The cost of a college education rises rapidly, is debt-ridden rapidly, at a time when it's the new minimum for skilled labor and a middle-class existence. Jobs going offshore is part of it, but not all. Government tax reform since Reagan was part of it, but shifts in government regulation and social policy, much more so. The fall in labor-union power and membership, and the rise in the uppermost weathy, is part of it, but Europe had the same global-market shocks but much less union decline and less visible-wealth rise.

In this light, the "why it matters" chapter may seem just a series of rebuttals to the conventional wisdom, and I can see how it might have disappointed other reviewers. Reading this chapter, the reader needs to remember all the material that went before. Yes, we understand: inequality is not good; income disparity does matter -- a lot -- and creates, yes, unhappiness; the quality of life is not improving even though productivity has; and deny it as you will, inequality is on the rise. He should have stated this in this summary perhaps with more emphasis, because the final "what to do" chapter is radical. Tax the rich; increase the gov't payroll; issue more H-1B permits for foreign skills; universalize preschool and contain college costs; bring back financial regulation; encourage labor unions; and (perhaps too flippantly stated) elect Democratic presidents. (Although I should note that Obama just signed (4/2012) new legislation -- his "JOBS" act -- loosening investment regulations even further).

Still, it's handy to have this book and its data. The national discussion has been way too simplistic and this at least groups the complexities in well-sorted ways.