Includes bibliographical references and index.

"The stagnation of living standards for most Americans over the past few decades has been the defining trend of modern life in the United States. Wealth and educational attainment have all slowed to a crawl in the twenty first century, while life expectancy has declined, economic inequality has soared, and the Black-White wage gap is as large as it was when Harry Truman was president. How did this happen in the world's most powerful country? Drawing from decades of writing about the economy for the New York Times, as well as years spent digging through archives, Pulitzer Prize-winning writer David Leonhardt tells the story of the past century of the American economy, starting with the Great Depression and the invention of the term "American dream." Ours Was the Shining Future explains how the United States built the most prosperous mass economy in history after the Depression, then examines how that economy unraveled after our postwar boom. Its central argument is that three forces, above all, have dictated the economy's rise and fall: political power through grass-roots movement, culture, and investment in making life better for the future. Filled with the clear, lucid writing for which Leonhardt is known, Ours Was the Shining Future is an enlightening economic history, featuring the unforgettable figures who helped shape the American dream: Frances Perkins, Eisenhower, Cesar Chavez, Betty Friedan, Robert Kennedy, Grace Hopper, Paul Hoffman, and more"--,Provided by publisher.