Two and Two Make Four

Facts, figures and city streets collide in Bird S. Coler's sharp-eyed portrait of power and money in New York. Written in the Progressive Era, Two and Two Make Four is classic political nonfiction that strips municipal government of mystique and exposes the plain arithmetic behind public policy. Its arguments still sting today. As city comptroller, Coler dissects budgets, franchises and the public ownership debate with insider precision and reforming zeal, creating public policy commentary that feels contemporary for debates on social and economic justice. Drawing on early 1900s American politics and progressive era New York, he shows how everyday citizens pay the price when private interests capture public authority. For readers interested in municipal government reform, this is both gripping narrative and rigorous political science reference, illuminating how contracts, concessions and civic neglect shape life in the streets. It speaks to students of political history, policy professionals and muckraking reform era readers who relish clear-eyed analysis of entrenched power. Out of print for decades and now republished by Alpha Editions, this classic reprint edition offers a vital primary source for understanding the public ownership debate and long-running quests for social and economic justice in American cities. Restored for today's and future generations, it belongs in any serious historical politics collection and on the shelves of anyone fascinated by early 1900s American politics and progressive era New York. More than a reprint - a collector's item and a cultural treasure.