This starts off as a fantastic read and is so useful for just the first 30 pages or so that highlight the similarities between the Great Recession of today and the Great Depression.  The historical data pre-Depression through today makes this book worth purchashing, reading and keeping on your shelf.  It’s a good policy wonk book too.  Reich nails it on the head by noting like many others before him that even uber-capitalist Henry Ford understood that to stay in business and grow, your employees were also your customers.  If you don’t pay them enough, they can’t buy your products, and then you limit your ability to grow and keep succeeding in business.

Reich also notes the rise of the extreme right that’s willing to blame anyone who a populist talking head or politician targets for why their lives aren’t as good as they used to be.  He could delve into it better, touching on the sexist, racism, isolationism and religious bigotry that floods the airwaves and internet every second.

While this is a great book, I have some criticisms.  He probably would have addressed if this was a longer book, but since he didn’t, this book can’t be a blueprint but more of an extended soundbite with good historical analysis.  Reich keeps the focus on the need for Americans to be able to afford schooling.  Sadly, he pushes the meme that vouchers are the answer, undermining a public school system that flourished and helped create & sustain the Great Prosperity.  He also thinks that a college degree will guarantee a better life. In the past, this was true, but the largest growth sector for Americans who cannot travel abroad is in the service industry.  You don’t need a degree for that.  However, in an interesting vein, he also suggests that student loan payoffs be linked to subsequent earnings, so that high earners pay more while those contributing to the social good pay less.  I like that idea.

Another question that I have, and to which I don’t have a perfect answer to yet, is the focus by Reich, and capitalist economists in general, is that more and more consumption is good for the economy.  We need to consume, but always buying more and more sounds like it’ll end in the same problem again, i.e. even with better wages and good social safety net, if you always increase your consumption, you’ll eventually have to borrow to pay for it.

One thing that really stands out is his lack of addressing gender and race, especially when he talks about the Great Prosperity from the end of World War II until the 1970s.  It’s almost “Leave it to Beaver” again, in that racism and sexism are barely, if ever, touched upon by the book.  Thus, a return to fiscal poilcy of the past MUST take into account the impact of including those who were excluded the last time around.  Noticably, Reich also glosses over class issues in the US, except to talk about the middle class and the top 400-500 earners in the economy.  Class is important in America and ignoring it simply delays dealing with the problem.

One last thought is with respect to his ideas on campaign finance reform.  He suggests a blind trust be established so that politicians won’t know from whom a contribution comes from.  The idea is that this would negate the “pay to play” system currently in place.  While this sounds good on the surface, it lacks depth.  E.g., the pool of people who could contribute large amounts to political parties (be they real people or Citizens United corporations), is very small.  The identity of those contributors would hardly be difficult to determine.

After all that, I’d like to still say this is an important book to read.  It’s starts the discussion.  And, unlike so many tomes, it provides solid historical financial data to back up some of its points.  The key take away is that “An economy where the middle class lacks the means to buy what it produces” cannot succeed in the long run.