Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
America's economy is unfair; its politics unjust; its society unbalanced. Many people believe this across ideological divides. They differ on the reasons why and, not surprisingly, what should be done about it. Is there any room for common ground?
Edward D. Kleinbard says yes. He argues that underlying all these crises are instances of systematic bad luck that deprive Americans of genuine equality of opportunity. We cannot control whether we are born to rich or poor parents, yet differences in wealth have radical implications for health, lifetime incomes, mobility within and across generations, and our sense of satisfaction with our lives and our country. Once we recognize this, we can agree on ways to diminish the importance of luck and increase the role of opportunity.
What's Luck Got to Do With It? combines insights from economics, philosophy, religion, and social psychology to argue that the government's proper role is addressing the unfairness and injustice of brute luck. Kleinbard shows that well designed public insurance against existential bad luck can mitigate today's inequality gap by sharing the costs across the entire risk pool, which is to say, all of us. For example, through comprehensive public investments in better education-in human capital-we offer millions of young people figurative insurance against the bad luck of not being born into an affluent, highly-educated household. The benefits paid by insurance result in a more inclusive economy, greater national income, a broader sharing of growth, and greater life satisfaction for millions of Americans.
Like it or not, our lives and opportunities are determined largely by luck. Kleinbard shows that while we can't undo every instance of misfortune, we can offer a path to not just a fairer America, but greater economic growth, more broadly shared.
Synopsis
The American dream of equal opportunity is in peril. America's economic inequality is shocking, poverty threatens to become a heritable condition, and our healthcare system is crumbling despite ever increasing costs.
In this thought-provoking book, Edward D. Kleinbard demonstrates how the failure to acknowledge the force of brute luck in our material lives exacerbates these crises leading to warped policy choices that impede genuine equality of opportunity for many Americans. What's Luck Got to Do with It? combines insights from economics, philosophy, and social psychology to argue for government's proper role in addressing the inequity of brute luck. Kleinbard shows how well-designed public investment can blunt the worst effects of existential bad luck that private insurance cannot reach and mitigate inequality by sharing the costs across the entire risk pool, which is to say, all of us. The benefits, as Kleinbard shares in a wealth of data, are economic as well as social a more inclusive economy, higher national income, and greater life satisfaction for millions of Americans.
Like it or not, our lives and opportunities are determined largely by luck. Kleinbard shows that while we can't undo every instance of misfortune, we can offer a path to not just a fairer America, but greater economic growth, more broadly shared.