Failure by Design: The Story Behind America's Broken Economy

By: Josh Bivens and Lawrence Mishel

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Synopsis: With this book, the Economic Policy Institute, a nonprofit think-tank focusing on the economic conditions of low- and middle-income workers, for the first time presents its data in the form of a readable narrative and interpretation written especially for general readers and students, made accessible with numerous charts and graphs. Bivens, an economist at the Economic Policy Institute and a frequent commentator for major media outlets, demonstrates that the Great Recession of 2008 was "driven by cluelessness and greed on the part of the country's financial elite," focusing on poor policy choices since the late 1970s. He examines the causes and impact of the Great Recession and explains evidence on jobs, incomes, wages, and other factors most relevant to low- and middle-income workers. He also describes what remains to be done to reform exchange rate, monetary, and fiscal policies. A companion website, "The State of Working America," provides the think-tank's annual compilations of economic data in interactive, downloadable charts and graphs, along with detailed readings on topics such as income inequality. The book lacks a subject index. IRL Press is an imprint of Cornell University Press. Annotation ©2011 Book News, Inc. , Portland, OR (booknews. com)