Toxic Inequality: How America's Wealth Gap Destroys Mobility, Deepens the Racial Divide, and Threatens Our FutureFrom a leading authority on race and public policy, a deeply researched account of how families rise and fall today Since the Great Recession, most Americans' standard of living has stagnated or declined. Economic inequality is at historic highs. But inequality's impact differs by race; African Americans' net wealth is just a tenth that of white Americans, and over recent decades, white families have accumulated wealth at three times the rate of black families. In our increasingly diverse nation, sociologist Thomas M. Shapiro argues, wealth disparities must be understood in tandem with racial inequities -- a dangerous combination he terms "toxic inequality." In Toxic Inequality, Shapiro reveals how these forces combine to trap families in place. Following nearly two hundred families of different races and income levels over a period of twelve years, Shapiro's research vividly documents the recession's toll on parents and children, the ways families use assets to manage crises and create opportunities, and the real reasons some families build wealth while others struggle in poverty. The structure of our neighborhoods, workplaces, and tax code-much more than individual choices-push some forward and hold others back. A lack of assets, far more common in families of color, can often ruin parents' careful plans for themselves and their children. Toxic inequality may seem inexorable, but it is not inevitable. America's growing wealth gap and its yawning racial divide have been forged by history and preserved by policy, and only bold, race-conscious reforms can move us toward a more just society. "Everyone concerned about the toxic effects of inequality must read this book." -- Robert B. Reich "This is one of the most thought-provoking books I have read on economic inequality in the US." -- William Julius Wilson |
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Toxic Inequality: How America's Wealth Gap Destroys Mobility, Deepens the ... Thomas M. Shapiro No preview available - 2017 |
Toxic Inequality: How America's Wealth Gap Destroys Mobility, Deepens the ... Thomas M. Shapiro No preview available - 2017 |
Common terms and phrases
Ackermans African Americans Assets and Social benefits black families build wealth Center Cindy cost David Cay Johnston debt discrimination earnings economic mobility economic security eligible employers employment capital estate tax families of color family income family wealth family's federal foreclosure higher education Hispanic home equity home owners home ownership Homestead Act households housing IASP impact increase inheritance Institute on Assets KB Home Kilolo Latinos less living loan Louis low-income low-opportunity Marco Rubio median Medicare Part D Medinas Meschede middle-class million mortgage interest deduction move neighborhood opportunities parents Patricia percent Pew Research Center poverty poverty line public investment race Rachel racial wealth gap received Recession retirement accounts retirement savings retirement security Social Security Spanish Lake story subsidies tax expenditures toxic inequality tuition University wage wealth accumulation wealth inequality well-being white families workers