The Conscience of a Liberal

Overview

This wholly original new work by the best-selling author of The Great Unraveling challenges America to reclaim the values that made it great.
With this major new volume, Paul Krugman, "the heir apparent to Galbraith" (Alan Blinder) and, today's most widely read economist, studies the past eighty years of American history, from the reforms that tamed the harsh inequality of the Gilded Age to the unraveling of that achievement and the reemergence of immense economic and political inequality since the 1970s. Seeking to understand both what happened to middle-class America and what it will take to achieve a "new New Deal," Krugman has created his finest book to date, a work that weaves together a nuanced account of three generations of history with sharp political, social, and economic analysis. This book, written with Krugman's trademark ability to explain complex issues simply, will transform the debate about American social policy in much the same way as did John Kenneth Galbr's deeply influential book, The Affluent Society.

Editorial Reviews

Economist and New York Times columnist Krugman's stimulating manifesto aims to galvanize today's progressives the way Barry Goldwater's The Conscience of a Conservative did right-wingers in 1964. Krugman's great theme is economic equality and the liberal politics that support it. "America's post-war middle-class society" was not the automatic product of a free-market economy, he writes, but "was created... by the policies of the Roosevelt Administration." By strengthening labor unions and taxing the rich to fund redistributive programs like Social Security and Medicare, the New Deal consensus narrowed the income gap, lifted the working class out of poverty and made the economy boom. Things went awry, Krugman contends, with the Republican Party's takeover by "movement conservatism," practicing a politics of "deception [and] distraction" to advance the interests of the wealthy. Conservative initiatives to cut taxes for the rich, dismantle social programs and demolish unions, he argues, have led to sharply rising inequality, with the incomes of the wealthiest soaring while those of most workers stagnate. Krugman's accessible, stylishly presented argument deftly combines economic data with social and political analysis; his account of the racial politics driving conservative successes is especially sharp. The result is a compelling historical defense of liberalism and a clarion call for Americans to retake control of their economic destiny. (Oct.) Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information. -- PUBLISHERS WEEKLY.

Author Information

Bio of Paul Krugman

Paul Krugman won the 2008 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences.

Customer Reviews

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  Posted March 08, 2008 by discoverybg31, Des Moines, IA

  While not as good as "Conservatives without Conscience", this book gives a reasonable disertation as to how we got to where we are, what's wrong with it, and how we could actually fix what ails us. It is definately a book written by a liberal, but if you are a conservative, you might read it just so you can see how we liberals think of ourselves.
  
  Overall, I think that the length was good, but there are some cites that I would like to read myself, just so I know that things aren't taken out of context (I am a skeptic when it comes to political prose). The facts and figures are well cited, so anyone can look them up if they would like to verify.
  
  One interesting detail is that Mr. Krugman is also critical of the Democrats (albeit not as critical as he is to Republicans). He points out clearly when, where, and why they went wrong. He lays quite a bit of the blame at President Clinton in particular for botching up health care reform and many other important issues for "fringe" issues of smaller relevence to the majority of Americans.
  
  Overall, a good book, a quick, if at times heavy, read and very interesting overall.

Additional Info

Imprint

W. W. Norton & Company

Filesize

1.16 MB

Number of Pages

352

eBook ISBN

9780393067378