03367nam 22005655 450 991045309280332120210106222133.00-520-95743-110.1525/9780520957435(CKB)2550000001108974(EBL)1337906(OCoLC)855505496(DE-B1597)520756(OCoLC)859156244(DE-B1597)9780520957435(MiAaPQ)EBC1337906(EXLCZ)99255000000110897420200424h20132013 fg engur|||||||||||txtrdacontentcrdamediacrrdacarrierFalling Behind How Rising Inequality Harms the Middle Class /Robert FrankBerkeley, CA : University of California Press, [2013]©20131 online resource (177 p.)Wildavsky Forum Series ;4Description based upon print version of record.0-520-28052-0 1-299-77810-0 Frontmatter -- CONTENTS -- Preface to the 2013 Edition -- Preface to the 2007 Edition -- 1. Introduction -- 2. Recent Changes in Income and Wealth Inequality -- 3. Inequality, Happiness, and Health -- 4. Envy or Context? -- 5. The Rising Cost of Adequate -- 6. Why Do We Care about Rank? -- 7. What Types of Consumption Are Most Sensitive to Context? -- 8. How Can Middle-Class Families Afford to Keep Up? -- 9. Smart for One, Dumb for All -- 10. Looking Ahead -- 11. Lessons for Public Policy -- 12. Reflections -- Notes -- References -- IndexWith a timely new foreword by Robert Frank, this groundbreaking book explores the very meaning of happiness and prosperity in America today. Although middle-income families don't earn much more than they did several decades ago, they are buying bigger cars, houses, and appliances. To pay for them, they spend more than they earn and carry record levels of debt. Robert Frank explains how increased concentrations of income and wealth at the top of the economic pyramid have set off "expenditure cascades" that raise the cost of achieving many basic goals for the middle class. Writing in lively prose for a general audience, Frank employs up-to-date economic data and examples drawn from everyday life to shed light on reigning models of consumer behavior. He also suggests reforms that could mitigate the costs of inequality. Falling Behind compels us to rethink how and why we live our economic lives the way we do.Consumption (Economics) -- United StatesEquality -- Economic aspects -- United StatesIncome distribution -- United StatesMiddle class -- United States -- Economic conditionsElectronic books.Consumption (Economics) -- United States.Equality -- Economic aspects -- United States.Income distribution -- United States.Middle class -- United States -- Economic conditions.305.5/50973Frank Robert, authttp://id.loc.gov/vocabulary/relators/aut323832DE-B1597DE-B1597BOOK9910453092803321Falling Behind2476405UNINA