Who stole the American dream?

The challenge from within

Power shift. The business rebellion : the power shift that changed American history ; The pivotal Congress : Jimmy Carter and 1977-78 Democrats ; Middle-class power : how citizen action worked before the power shift ; Middle-class prosperity : how "the virtuous circle" worked before the new economy

Dismantling the dream. The new economy of the 1990s : the wedge economics that split America ; The stolen dream : from middle-class to the new poor ; The great burden shift : funding your own safety net, crippled by debt ; The wealth gap : the economics "of the 1%, by the 1%, for the 1%"

Unequal democracy. The new 2000s power game : why Congress often ignores public opinion ; The Washington-Wall Street symbiosis : the inside track of "the money monopoly"

Middle-class squeeze. Broken promises : bankrupting middle-class pensions ; 401(K)'s : do-it-yourself : can you really afford to retire? ; Housing heist : prime targets : the solid middle class ; The great wealth shift : how the banks eroded middle-class savings ; Offshoring the dream : the Wal-Mart trail to China ; Hollowing out high-end jobs : IBM : shifting the knowledge economy to India ; The skills gap myth : importing IT workers costs masses of U.S. jobs

Obstacles to a fix. The missing middle : how gridlock adds to the wealth gap ; The rise of the radical right, 1964-2010 : assault on the middle-class safety net ; The high cost of imperial overstretch : how the U.S. global footprint hurts the middle class

Challenge and response. Reclaiming the dream : a domestic Marshall plan : a ten-step strategy ; Politics : a grassroots response : reviving the moderate center and middle-class power

Appendix. Stolen dream timeline : key events, trends, and turning points, 1948-2012.