Human Capitalism: How Economic Growth Has Made Us Smarter--and More Unequal - Hardcover

Lindsey, Brink

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0691157324 ISBN 13: 9780691157320

Publisher: Princeton University Press, 2013

Synopsis

What explains the growing class divide between the well educated and everybody else? Noted author Brink Lindsey, a senior scholar at the Kauffman Foundation, argues that it's because economic expansion is creating an increasingly complex world in which only a minority with the right knowledge and skills--the right "human capital"--reap the majority of the economic rewards. The complexity of today's economy is not only making these lucky elites richer--it is also making them smarter. As the economy makes ever-greater demands on their minds, the successful are making ever-greater investments in education and other ways of increasing their human capital, expanding their cognitive skills and leading them to still higher levels of success. But unfortunately, even as the rich are securely riding this virtuous cycle, the poor are trapped in a vicious one, as a lack of human capital leads to family breakdown, unemployment, dysfunction, and further erosion of knowledge and skills. In this brief, clear, and forthright eBook original, Lindsey shows how economic growth is creating unprecedented levels of human capital--and suggests how the huge benefits of this development can be spread beyond those who are already enjoying its rewards.

About this title

From the Back Cover:

"Human Capitalism is a compelling and important account of how and why people are being left behind in an increasingly complex economy. This is a 'big think' book that is both deeper and broader than the usual polemical arguments about inequality. Regardless of which side of the political divide you sit on, Lindsey will likely stimulate and infuriate you in equal measure."--Tyler Cowen, author of The Great Stagnation

"Rising income inequality is an issue society can no longer afford to ignore. This book deepens our understanding of the forces behind the problem and is bound to stimulate useful discussion of it."--Robert H. Frank, author of The Darwin Economy

"Providing an evenhanded approach to the heated issues surrounding human capital, this is a very strong and unusually well-written book that is also remarkable for squeezing so much into so few pages and making a wide range of scholarship accessible to general readers."--Steven Teles, Johns Hopkins University

"America's economic future isn't really about the top tax rate or entitlement spending. Rather, it is about our skills, our character, and our ability to form relationships that can help us navigate a more complex and chaotic world. That is the central insight of Brink Lindsey's Human Capitalism, which in a few short pages upends conventional understandings of how culture and economics intertwine--and what we should do about it."--Reihan Salam, co-author of Grand New Party

About the Author:

Brink Lindsey is a senior fellow at the Cato Institute and a consultant for the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation. He is the author of The Age of Abundance: How Prosperity Transformed America's Politics and Culture (Collins) and Against the Dead Hand: The Uncertain Struggle for Global Capitalism (Wiley).

About this edition

• Publisher: Princeton University Press
• Publication date: 2013
• ISBN 10: 0691157324
• ISBN 13: 9780691157320
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 144