The American Dream Is Not Dead:
(But Populism Could Kill It)
By Michael R. Strain
Populists on both sides of the political aisle routinely announce that the American Dream is in great peril. According to them, the game has been rigged by elites, hard work doesn’t pay off, wages have been stagnant for decades, the middle class is in decline, and America is no longer an upwardly mobile society.
Michael R. Strain disputes this rhetoric as both wrong and dangerous. In this succinctly argued volume, he shows that, on measures of economic opportunity and quality of life, there has never been a better time to be alive in America. He backs his argument with overwhelming—and underreported—data to show how the facts favor realistic optimism.
He warns, however, that the false prophets of populism pose a serious danger to our current and future prosperity. Their policy prescriptions would leave workers worse off. And their erroneous claim that the American Dream is dead could discourage people from taking advantage of real opportunities to better their lives. If enough people start to believe the Dream is dead, they could, in effect, kill it. To prevent this self-fulfilling prophecy, Strain’s book is urgent reading for anyone feeling the pull of the populists.
Read “The American Dream is Alive and Well” – The New York Times >
Read “The American Dream is Alive and Well” – The Wall Street Journal >
“Before you declare the American Dream is dead, you should take the time to read Michael Strain’s case to the contrary. Strain provides a thoughtful and balanced assessment of the evidence on the state of American workers and families, in the process rejecting some of the claims coming from both the left and the right.”
—Jason Furman, Professor of Practice, Harvard University and former Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers
“An inoculation against politically motivated misinformation.”
—George F. Will, The Washington Post