Divided : the perils of our growing inequality / edited by David Cay Johnston.

Includes bibliographical references.

Inequality and democracy / President Barack Obama -- The vanishing middle class / Elizabeth Warren -- Necessaries / Adam Smith -- How gains at the top injure the middle class / Robert H. Frank -- Inequality is holding back the recovery / Joseph E. Stiglitz -- Wage theft / Kim Bobo -- Home Depot's CEO-size tip / Barbara Ehrenreich -- Why do so many jobs pay so badly? / Christopher Jencks -- In the heart of our economy and our lives / Beth Shulman -- Household wealth inequality / Edward N. Wolff -- Inequality across generations / Jared Bernstein -- "I didn't do it alone" / Chuck Collins and Felice Yeskel -- Arthur A. Robertson and the 1929 crash / Studs Terkel -- Graduates v. oligarchs / Paul Krugman -- No rich child left behind / sean f. reardon -- Achievement gap / Editorial Projects of the Education Research Center -- Back to school / Mike Rose -- Educational quality and equality / Linda Darling-Hammond -- Health and income inequalities are linked / Richard Wilkinson -- Unequal quality of care / Mary E. O'Brien -- Reducing health care disparitites / Olveen Carrasquillo and Jaime Torres -- Universal health care / Leo W. Gerard -- U.S. health care costs the most--by far / David Cay Johnston -- Inequality kills / Stephen Bezruchka -- Jailed for being in debt / Chris Serres and Glenn Howatt -- America's poverty "tax" / Gary Rivlin -- Hunger in America / Donald S. Shepard, Elizabeth Setren, and Donna Cooper -- Georgia's hunger games / Neil deMause -- Living down to expectations / Stephen Pimpare -- How economics is biased toward the rich / Moshe Adler -- Don't drink the Kool-Aid / Robert Kuttner -- Social security reduces inequality--efficiently, effectively and fairly / Nancy Altman and Eric Kingson -- Arguments for and against income inequality / Thomas L. Hungerford -- Inequality of hazard / Frank Ackerman and Lisa Heinzerling -- A different kind of epidemic / Ernest Drucker -- Prison's dilemma / Glenn C. Loury -- Men and their underpaid women / David Cay Johnston -- Race, gender, family structure, and poverty / Peter Edelman -- Employed parents who can't make a living / Lisa Dodson.

"The issue of inequality has irrefutably returned to the fore, riding on the anger against Wall Street following the 2008 financial crisis and the concentration of economic and political power in the hands of the super-rich. The Occupy movement made the plight of the 99 percent an indelible part of the public consciousness, and concerns about inequality were a decisive factor in the 2012 presidential elections. How bad is it? According to Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist David Cay Johnston, most Americans, in inflation-adjusted terms, are now back to the average income of 1966. Shockingly, from 2009 to 2011, the top 1 percent got 121 percent of the income gains while the bottom 99 percent saw their income fall. Yet in this most unequal of developed nations, every aspect of inequality remains hotly contested and poorly understood. Divided collects the writings of leading scholars, activists, and journalists to provide an illuminating, multifaceted look at inequality in America, exploring its devastating implications in areas as diverse as education, justice, health care, social mobility, and political representation. Provocative and eminently readable, here is an essential resource for anyone who cares about the future of America--and compelling evidence that inequality can be ignored only at the nation's peril."-- Provided by publisher.