For most of its history, America has been fighting a vicious war that cannot be won: a war against its poor. Herbert J. Gans argues that by withholding the opportunity for decent jobs and incomes, we are also killing the spirit of an already large portion of the population. And, he warns, as more well-paying and secure jobs disappear from the American economy, a growing number of workers will join its ranks.

The book ends with an imaginative set of economic policy ideas for a twenty-first-century America that may never again be able to supply enough decent jobs for everyone.