Synopses & Reviews
The U.S. economy is wrapping up twenty-five years of some of the strongest, smoothest growth in its history-a performance so sweet economists have given it a name: the Great Moderation. So why have so many of us, even those making hundreds of thousands of dollars, arrived at the new century with a gnawing sense that events are moving against our families and ourselves? The easy answer is that we're suffering a case of needless anxiety. But the easy answer is wrong. Drawing on interviews with hundreds of Americans and new statistics he developed, Peter Gosselin traces a quarter-century shift of economic risk from the broad shoulders of business and government to the backs of working people. It is a shift that has shaken the pillars of most families' lives-stable jobs, solid benefits, government protections. The change doesn't mean one can't prosper. But it does mean the benefits of growth come at greater peril and your financial fall will be steeper if you stumble. This threat to working Americans' security-and what to do about it-is a pressing concern to economists, policy-makers, and everyone who works for a living.
Synopsis
The U.S. economy is wrapping up 25 years of some of the strongest growth in its history. At the same time, Americans report feeling more economically insecure than ever. Gosselin discusses this threat to working Americans' security and what to do about it.
Synopsis
Peter Gosselin predicted in High Wire that the American worker would take on an exceedingly high level of risk in the American economy, and would be ever more exposed to the volatility of the market. Today, Gosselins worst fears have been realized. American families are walking a high wire in which a medical crisis, a natural disaster, or the loss of a job could send them into free fall. And as the housing crisis worsens and banks and insurers collapse, many have already fallen. High Wire reveals the quiet corrosion of American living standards and shows how the ownership society” has turned into the on-your-own society”with devastating consequences.
About the Author
Peter Gosselin is national economics correspondent for the Los Angeles Times and a member of the papers Washington bureau. A visiting fellow at the Urban Institute in Washington, D.C., he lives with his wife, reporter Robin Toner, and their two children in Washington, D.C.