Thank you netgalley for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
This was a very informative and compelling book. The author brings up several good points on how diversity and gender equality enriches and uplifts the economy, how the incentives to big companies have not produced profitable jobs for the middle class and that the rise of Donald Trump in part was due to the middle class' frustration with broken promises, more work for less pay and a general sense of being unable to obtain even the most basic ideals of the middle class: buy a home, a car, access to higher education and the occasional vacations.

I agree with the author that most folks do not want to be rich just want economic security to live a simple, comfortable life without crazy work hours.

Tankersley's economics reporting background shines in this book, as he interviews everyone from Trump campaign officials to MIT academics to Oregon loggers to explore what the shifting sands of the economy look like at a granular level. At times, the book seems almost too infused with a sense of trying to be relevant to the day's headlines, and a longer historical perspective (bringing in insights from Robert Gordon's "The Rise and Fall of American Growth," for example) would have been appropriate. But the project of the book attempts to paint a more varied picture than one traditionally envisions when one hears the phrase "working class," and the sympathetic portrait of workers left behind by technological and political shifts will stay with the reader long past the final page.

I loved the indepth research and evaluation of the middle class that went into this book! It discusses topics relevant to the middle class that are usually swept under the rug. Great to see a spotlight put on these important issues!

Whew....let me just exhale for a second.
This book is SOOOOO TIMELY! It talks about the COVID 19 pandemic, yet it had not reached the riots.
Yet this book is a MUST read for everyone this year.
This book is not just about white middle America, but EVERYONE MIDDLE AMERICA!
I absolutely loved Ed Green's story and how the author really drove home the points he was making while writing this book.
I must admit, I was a bit skeptical of how to bring back economic growth, but by the end of the book...I am a firm believer in all the authors suggestions.
I could NOT put this book down, it is so well informed, well researched, and well written!

I can't wait to recommend this book to EVERY SINGLE PERSON I KNOW!