Illusions of Prosperity
America's Working Families in an Age of Economic Insecurity
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 11097162 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Stephen J Mcnamee (corresponding author), Joel Blau |
| Year | 2001 |
| Volume | 30 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 124 |
| Publication date | 2001-03-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Contemporary Sociology A Journal of Reviews (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0094-3061 • E-ISSN: 1939-8638 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publications (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.2307/2655376 |
| OpenAlex | W2333995818 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 8 |
Faith in - idea that, for instance, profit-seeking managed care companies will improve health care delivery system - has become a basic tenet of public policy debate. But as Joel Blau demonstrates in this eye-opening book, so-called free market programmes have been a dismal failure, heightening inequality, lowering median standard of living, and steadily eroding quality of our social and political life. In Illusions of Prosperity, Blau launches a far-reaching assault on idea that the market knows best. Blau writes that while share of national income held by bottom four fifths of population (the poor and broad middle class combined) has continued to decline, top fifth gained 97 percent of increase in total household income between 1979 and 1994. Few experiments, Blau comments, yield such clear outcomes. Although many had hoped to benefit from new economy, this affluent fifth is only segment of population that truly has. Blau looks at recent reforms in NAFTA, education, job training, welfare, and much more, showing that new social policies have made matters worse, because reforms that rely on can't compensate for market's deficiencies. Instead, he calls for a stronger, more caring government to counter debilitating effects of market, and he urges development of broadest possible political alliances to ensure economic security. Sure to raise controversy, Illusions of Prosperity turns today's conventional wisdom inside out, making a profound case for importance of a strong government in a world where markets do not have all answers
Cognitive psychology · Demographic economics · Development economics · Economic growth · Economics · Illusion · Political science · Prosperity · Socioeconomics · Sociology · Gender, Labor, and Family Dynamics · Housing, Finance, and Neoliberalism · Psychology
| Unique citing works | 8 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,31 |
| Citation span | 2000 - 2015 (16) |
| Citation velocity | historical |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 7 |