Audio only
Dream Hoarders
How the American Upper Middle Class Is Leaving Everyone Else in the Dust, Why That Is a Problem, and What to Do about ItBy Richard V. ReevesRecorded TrackLength4h 40m
About this audiobook
America is becoming a class-based society.
It is now conventional to focus on the wealth of the top 1 percent—especially the top 0.01 percent—and how the ultrarich are concentrating income and prosperity, while incomes for most other Americans are stagnant. But the most important, consequential, and widening gap in American society is between the upper-middle class and everyone else.
Reeves defines the upper-middle class as those whose incomes are in the top 20 percent of American society. Income is not the only way to measure a society, but in a market economy it is crucial because access to money generally determines who gets the best-quality education, housing, health care, and other necessary goods and services.
As Reeves shows, the growing separation between the upper-middle class and everyone else can be seen in family structure, neighborhoods, attitudes, and lifestyle. Those at the top of the income ladder are becoming more effective at passing on their status to their children, reducing overall social mobility. The result is not just an economic divide but a fracturing of American society along class lines. Upper-middle-class children become upper-middle-class adults.
These trends matter because the separation and perpetuation of the upper-middle class corrode prospects for more progressive approaches to policy. Various forms of “opportunity hoarding” among the upper-middle class make it harder for others to rise to the top rung. Examples include zoning laws and schooling, occupational licensing, college application procedures, and the allocation of internships. Upper-middle-class opportunity hoarding, Reeves argues, results in a less competitive economy as well as a less open society.
Inequality is inevitable and can even be good, within limits. But Reeves argues that society can take effective action to reduce opportunity hoarding and thus promote broader opportunity. This fascinating book shows how American society has become the very class-defined society that earlier Americans rebelled against—and what can be done to restore a more equitable society.
Audiobook details
Rating★★★★ 3.9 (3.3K)
Includes Goodreads, Amazon, StoryGraph, LibraryThing
GenrePsychology, Business and Economics
Length4 hrs 40 mins
Narrated byRecorded Track
FormatAudiobook
Publish dateOct 3, 2017
LanguageEnglish
More from Richard V. Reeves
What to Make of a LifeJim Collins13h 31m4.4 (793)$33 · $0.00
I Am The StormJanice Dean9h4.6 (1.5K)$8 · $0.00
On Democracies and Death CultsDouglas Murray10h 38m4.6 (6.5K)$29 · $0.00
TerraformPropaganda5h 39m4.7 (594)$24 · $0.00
Southern Horrors: Lynch Law in All Its Phases (Annotated)Ida B. Wells-Barnett2h 44m4.6 (1.3K)$2 · $0.00
Hour of the HeartIrvin D. Yalom, Benjamin Yalom8h 19m4.6 (2.3K)$26 · $0.00
Braving the TruthRachel Held Evans11h 31m4.7 (359)$29 · $0.00
Level UpRob Dial7h 42m4.6 (3.3K)$26 · $0.00
As a JewSarah Hurwitz8h 36m4.6 (1.2K)$26 · $0.00
Burn the HaystackJennie Young, PhD9h 30m4.6 (543)$29 · $0.00
Woman and the New Race (Annotated)Margaret Sanger6h 30m4.6 (1K)$1.99 · $0.00
Good InsideBecky Kennedy9h 55m4.5 (59.3K)$29 · $0.00
Du Bois: EssaysW.E.B. Du Bois6h 22m4.6 (1.5K)$1 · $0.00
The North American Indian (Illustrated Edition)Edward S. Curtis, Frederick Webb Hodge5h 59m4.6 (1.4K)$2 · $0.00
Valley of the BirdtailAndrew Stobo Sniderman, Douglas Sanderson10h 1m4.6 (2.4K)$29 · $0.00
Lies My Therapist Told MeGreg E. Gifford9h 3m4.6 (503)$29 · $0.00
Disturbed in Their NestsAlephonsion Deng, Judy A. Bernstein11h 22m4.6 (595)$23 · $0.00
No Name in the StreetJames Baldwin5h4.5 (8.5K)$20 · $0.00
Magic SeasonWade Rouse6h 41m4.6 (855)$24 · $0.00
Consent Laid BareChanel Contos7h 11m4.5 (1.7K)$24 · $0.00
Never Split the DifferenceChris Voss, Tahl Raz8h 7m4.4 (277.7K)$26 · $0.00
The Intelligent Investor Rev Ed.Benjamin Graham17h 48m4.3 (191.5K)$40 · $0.00
The Hard Thing About Hard ThingsBen Horowitz7h 57m4.2 (134.3K)$26 · $0.00
Boundaries for LeadersHenry Cloud7h 36m4.3 (3.6K)$26 · $0.00
BuildTony Fadell11h 5m4.5 (14.3K)$8 · $0.00
The Joys Of CompoundingGautam Baid17h 34m4.5 (2.5K)$18 · $0.00
Basic EconomicsThomas Sowell18h 32m4.5 (29.3K)$28 · $0.00
The Ambuja StoryNarotam Sekhsaria13h 59m4.5 (830)$33 · $0.00
This Is Going to HurtAdam Kay5h 47m4.4 (444.7K)$24 · $0.00
Big TrustShadé Zahrai, Fayçal Sekkouah8h 36m4.6 (406)$26 · $0.00
The Intelligent Investor Third EditionBenjamin Graham, Jason Zweig20h4.4 (156.6K)$46 · $0.00
Bottle of LiesKatherine Eban14h 25m4.4 (12K)$33 · $0.00
The Antiracist Business BookTrudi Lebrón6h 10m4.6 (275)$17 · $0.00
The FormulaJoshua Robinson, Jonathan Clegg10h 41m4.4 (6.9K)$29 · $0.00
Let Them LeadJohn U. Bacon7h 10m4.5 (1.4K)$24 · $0.00
Secrets of the Millionaire MindT. Harv Eker5h 11m4.4 (301.4K)$24 · $0.00
The Person You Mean to BeDolly Chugh9h 6m4.4 (7.2K)$29 · $0.00
BoundlessNick Kostov, Sean McLain9h 17m4.5 (1.1K)$29 · $0.00
Everyday DharmaSuneel Gupta5h 2m4.5 (761)$20 · $0.00
Let's Talk Mutual FundsMonika Halan7h 5m4.4 (2.4K)$16 · $0.00
You may also like
Not a Day CareEverett Piper5h 57m4.1 (788)$20
Savage NewsJessica Yellin10h 4m3.6 (1.7K)$29 · $0.00
The Courage to Be FreeRon DeSantis9h4.1 (6.3K)$29 · $0.00
The MomentBakari Sellers4h 33m4.3 (329)$20 · $0.00
Letter to the American ChurchEric Metaxas5h 32m4.3 (7.2K)$17
Tearing Us ApartRyan T. Anderson, Alexandra DeSanctis8h 16m4.6 (723)$20
Drain the SwampCongressman Ken Buck4h 30m4.3 (593)$20
Still the Best HopeDennis Prager15h 30m4.4 (1.6K)$33 · $0.00
F*ck SilenceJoe Walsh6h 55m4.1 (1.4K)$24 · $0.00
"The Kingdom of God Is Within You" (Annotated)Leo Tolstoy12h 40m4.3 (13.4K)$1.99 · $0.00
Jameela Green Ruins EverythingZarqa Nawaz9h3.7 (2.3K)$29 · $0.00
The Future of CapitalismPaul Collier9h 27m4.0 (4.2K)$7 · $0.00
Creating FreedomRaoul Martinez17h 34m4.3 (826)$23 · $0.00
Dawn's Early LightKevin Roberts9h 46m2.9 (292)$29 · $0.00
THE NEW FREEDOMWoodrow Wilson7h 14m3.7 (151)$2 · $0.00
Good Tidings and Great JoySarah Palin4h 22m3.8 (989)$20 · $0.00
Decades of DecadenceMarco Rubio8h 12m4.0 (479)$26 · $0.00
I, CitizenTony Woodlief6h 27m4.3 (64)$17
Poverty: Its Illegal Causes and Legal CureLysander Spooner4h 49m$2 · $0.00
Baptized in PCBsEllen Griffith Spears14h 21m4.1 (34)$25