Winner of the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences, Claudia Goldin is the Henry Lee Professor of Economics at Harvard University. Lawrence Katz is Elisabeth Allison Professor of Economics at Harvard University.

Masterful...As the book's title suggests, whether inequality increases or not is best thought of as an ongoing race between education and technology. Combining this simple but appealing idea with a deep knowledge of the histories of the U.S. labor market and educational institutions, Goldin and Katz conclude that whereas education was winning the race for most of the 20th century, technology caught up in the 1970s and has since prevailed. The authors' most insightful point is that the root cause of the recent growth in inequality is not faster technological progress during the past three decades but rather the surprising stagnation in the level of education of young Americans.

• * Introduction Part I: Economic Growth and Distribution * The Human Capital Century * Inequality across the Twentieth Century * Skill-biased Technological Change Part II: Education for the Masses in Three Transformations * The Origins of the Virtues * Economic Foundations of the High School Movement * America's Graduation from High School * Mass Higher Education in the Twentieth Century Part III. The Race * The Race between Education and Technology * How America Once Led and Can Win the Race for Tomorrow * Appendix A * Appendix B * Appendix C * Appendix D * Notes * References * A Note on Sources * Acknowledgments * Index

Winner of the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences, Claudia Goldin is the Henry Lee Professor of Economics at Harvard University. Lawrence Katz is Elisabeth Allison Professor of Economics at Harvard University.

Masterful...As the book's title suggests, whether inequality increases or not is best thought of as an ongoing race between education and technology. Combining this simple but appealing idea with a deep knowledge of the histories of the U.S. labor market and educational institutions, Goldin and Katz conclude that whereas education was winning the race for most of the 20th century, technology caught up in the 1970s and has since prevailed. The authors' most insightful point is that the root cause of the recent growth in inequality is not faster technological progress during the past three decades but rather the surprising stagnation in the level of education of young Americans.

• * Introduction Part I: Economic Growth and Distribution * The Human Capital Century * Inequality across the Twentieth Century * Skill-biased Technological Change Part II: Education for the Masses in Three Transformations * The Origins of the Virtues * Economic Foundations of the High School Movement * America's Graduation from High School * Mass Higher Education in the Twentieth Century Part III. The Race * The Race between Education and Technology * How America Once Led and Can Win the Race for Tomorrow * Appendix A * Appendix B * Appendix C * Appendix D * Notes * References * A Note on Sources * Acknowledgments * Index