{"title":"Wildavsky Forum Series","description":"\u003cp\u003eDelve into thought-provoking discussions on risk, culture, and society with the Wildavsky Forum Series. Perfect for readers seeking intellectual stimulation and fresh perspectives on contemporary issues.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"falling-behind-book-robert-frank-9780520252523","title":"Falling Behind","description":"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. In a book that explores the very meaning of happiness and prosperity in America today, 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. 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The culmination of decades of distinguished scholarship, \"The Bridge over the Racial Divide\" brilliantly demonstrates how political power is disproportionately concentrated among the most advantaged segments of society and how the monetary, trade, and tax policies of recent years have deepened this power imbalance. Developing his earlier views on race in contemporary society, William Julius Wilson gives a simple, straightforward, and crucially important diagnosis of the problem of rising social inequality in the United States and details a set of recommendations for dealing with it.Wilson argues that as long as middle - and working-class groups are fragmented along racial lines, they will fail to see how their combined efforts could change the political imbalance and thus promote policies that reflect their interests. 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