The Complacent Class: The Self-Defeating Quest for the American Dream Contributor(s): Cowen, Tyler (Author) |
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ISBN: 1250153778 ISBN-13: 9781250153777 Publisher: Picador USA OUR PRICE: $15.30 Product Type: Paperback - Other Formats Published: March 2018 |
Additional Information |
BISAC Categories: - Business & Economics | Economic Conditions - Social Science | Social Classes & Economic Disparity |
Dewey: 305.513 |
Physical Information: 0.8" H x 5.5" W x 8.2" (0.50 lbs) 272 pages |
Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
Publisher Description: NATIONAL BESTSELLER Since Alexis de Tocqueville, restlessness has been accepted as a signature American trait. Our willingness to move, take risks, and adapt to change have produced a dynamic economy and a tradition of innovation from Ben Franklin to Steve Jobs. The problem, according to legendary blogger, economist and best selling author Tyler Cowen, is that Americans today have broken from this tradition--we're working harder than ever to avoid change. We're moving residences less, marrying people more like ourselves and choosing our music and our mates based on algorithms that wall us off from anything that might be too new or too different. Match.com matches us in love. Spotify and Pandora match us in music. Facebook matches us to just about everything else. Of course, this "matching culture" brings tremendous positives: music we like, partners who make us happy, neighbors who want the same things. We're more comfortable. But, according to Cowen, there are significant collateral downsides attending this comfort, among them heightened inequality and segregation and decreased incentives to innovate and create. |
Contributor Bio(s): Cowen, Tyler: - Tyler Cowen (Ph.D.) holds the Holbert C. Harris chair in economics at George Mason University. He is the author of Discover Your Inner Economist (2007), Create Your Own Economy (2009), NYT bestseller The Great Stagnation (2011), An Economist Get Lunch (2012), Average is Over (2013), and a number of academic books. He writes the most read economics blog worldwide, marginalrevolution.com. He has written regularly for The New York Times and contributes to a wide number of newspapers and periodicals. |