Falling Behind

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. Writing in lively prose for a general audience, Frank employs up-to-date economic data and examples drawn from everyday life to shed light on reigning models of consumer behavior. He also suggests reforms that could mitigate the costs of inequality. Falling Behind compels us to rethink how and why we live our economic lives the way we do. Copub: Russell Sage Foundation

ISBN 0520252527   Volumes 1 ISBN13 9780520252523 (What's this?)   Weight (grammes) 199 Publisher The University Press Group Ltd   Published in CA Imprint University of California Press   Series ISSN 4 Format Paperback   Series title Wildavsky Forum Series Publication date 09 Jul 2007   Height (mm) 210 Library of Congress 2006026248   Width (mm) 140 DEWEY 305.550973   Spine width (mm) 12 DEWEY edition DC22   Academic level Professional / Scholarly Pages 160

1		Introduction		1
2		Recent changes in income and wealth inequality		6
3		Inequality, happiness, and health		15
4		Envy or context?		29
5		The rising cost of adequate		43
6		Why do we care about rank?		52
7		What types of consumption are most sensitive to context?		61
8		How can middle-class families afford to keep up?		78
9		Smart for one, dumb for all		87
10		Looking ahead		95
11		Lessons for public policy		103
12		Reflections		117

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