Brink Lindsey – författare

How America’s post-WWII affluence led to today’s divide between red states and blue states: “[Lindsey’s] insights are frequently dazzling.” —Los Angeles TimesUntil the 1950s, the struggle to feed, clothe, and employ the nation drove most of American politics. From slavery to the New Deal, political parties organized around economic interests and engaged in fervent debate over the best allocation of agonizingly scarce resources. But with the explosion of the nation’s economy in the years after World War II, a new set of needs began to emerge—a search for meaning and self-expression on one side, and a quest for stability and a return to traditional values on the other.In The Age of Abundance, Brink Lindsey offers a bold reinterpretation of the latter half of the twentieth century. In this sweeping history of postwar America, the tumult of racial and gender politics, the rise of the counterculture, and the conservative revolution of the 1980s and 1990s are portrayed in an entirely new light. Readers will learn how and why the contemporary ideologies of left and right emerged in response to the novel challenges of mass prosperity.The political ideas that created the culture wars, however, have now grown obsolete. Struggling to replace today’s stale conflicts is a new consensus that mixes the social freedom of the left with the economic freedom of the right into a potentially powerful ethos of libertarianism. The Age of Abundance is “a wise, revealing book combining the long sweep of history with a documentarian’s eye for detail” (Dallas Morning News).“Breathtaking analysis . . . pinpoints the current tensions between the political Left and Right to a 1967 San Francisco love-in and the opening of Oral Roberts University, both ‘eruptions of millenarian enthusiasm.’” —Booklist (starred review)“Scintillating.” —The New York Times Book Review“Provocative analysis . . . A thoughtful attempt to explain—and claim—the broad center in the middle of our political squabbling.” —Kirkus Reviews

For years, America has been plagued by slow economic growth and increasing inequality. In The Captured Economy, Brink Lindsey and Steven M. Teles identify a common factor behind these twin ills: breakdowns in democratic governance that allow wealthy special interests to capture the policymaking process for their own benefit. They document the proliferation of regressive regulations that redistribute wealth and income up the economic scale while stifling entrepreneurship and innovation. They also detail the most important cases of regulatory barriers that have worked to shield the powerful from the rigors of competition, thereby inflating their incomes: subsidies for the financial sector's excessive risk taking, overprotection of copyrights and patents, favoritism toward incumbent businesses through occupational licensing schemes, and the NIMBY-led escalation of land use controls that drive up rents for everyone else. An original and counterintuitive interpretation of the forces driving inequality and stagnation, The Captured Economy will be necessary reading for anyone concerned about America's mounting economic problems and how to improve the social tensions they are sparking.

The relentless increase of inequality in twenty-first century America has confounded analysts from both ends of the political spectrum. While many can point to particular contributing causes, so far none of the policies that have been enacted-not just in the United States but in other advanced countries-have been able to lessen the wealth and income gaps between the top decile and the rest. Critics on the left are more forceful critics of rising inequality, and they tend to blame capitalism and the private sector. Predictably, they see solutions in government action. Many on the right worry about the issue, too, but they come from a position that is more sanguine about corporations and more suspicious of government. But as the libertarian Brink Lindsey and the liberal Steve Teles argue in The Captured Economy, perhaps all of us-left, right, and center-are looking in the wrong places for culprits and solutions. They hone in on the government-corporate sector nexus, apportioning blame not only to both forces but also to the distorted form of governance that this partnership has created. Through armies of lobbyists, corporations and the wealthy have become remarkably adept at shaping policy-even ostensibly progressive policies-so that the field is tilted in their favor. Corporations have become classic 'rentiers,' using their monopoly power of influence over highly complicated legislative and regulatory processes to shift resources in their direction. FCC policy, health care regulation, banking regulation, labor policy, defense spending, and much more: in all of these arenas, well-resourced corporate rentiers have combined to ensure that the government favors them over everyone else. The perverse result is a state that shifts more and more wealth to the already-rich-even if that was never the initial intent of Congress, the President, or the electorate itself. Transforming this misshapen alliance will be difficult, and Lindsey and Teles are realistic about the chances for reform. To that end, they close with a set of reasonable policy proposals that can help to reduce corporate rentiers' scope and power to extract excessive rents via government policy. A powerful, original, and genuinely counterintuitive interpretation of the forces driving the increase in inequality, The Captured Economy will be necessary reading for anyone concerned about the rising social and economic divisions in contemporary America.

For years, America has been plagued by slow economic growth and increasing inequality. In The Captured Economy, Brink Lindsey and Steven M. Teles identify a common factor behind these twin ills: breakdowns in democratic governance that allow wealthy special interests to capture the policymaking process for their own benefit. They document the proliferation of regressive regulations that redistribute wealth and income up the economic scale while stifling entrepreneurship and innovation. They also detail the most important cases of regulatory barriers that have worked to shield the powerful from the rigors of competition, thereby inflating their incomes: subsidies for the financial sector''s excessive risk taking, overprotection of copyrights and patents, favoritism toward incumbent businesses through occupational licensing schemes, and the NIMBY-led escalation of land use controls that drive up rents for everyone else. An original and counterintuitive interpretation of the forces driving inequality and stagnation, The Captured Economy will be necessary reading for anyone concerned about America''s mounting economic problems and how to improve the social tensions they are sparking.

For years, America has been plagued by slow economic growth and increasing inequality. In The Captured Economy, Brink Lindsey and Steven M. Teles identify a common factor behind these twin ills: breakdowns in democratic governance that allow wealthy special interests to capture the policymaking process for their own benefit. They document the proliferation of regressive regulations that redistribute wealth and income up the economic scale while stifling entrepreneurship and innovation. They also detail the most important cases of regulatory barriers that have worked to shield the powerful from the rigors of competition, thereby inflating their incomes: subsidies for the financial sector''s excessive risk taking, overprotection of copyrights and patents, favoritism toward incumbent businesses through occupational licensing schemes, and the NIMBY-led escalation of land use controls that drive up rents for everyone else. An original and counterintuitive interpretation of the forces driving inequality and stagnation, The Captured Economy will be necessary reading for anyone concerned about America''s mounting economic problems and how to improve the social tensions they are sparking.

In The Permanent Problem, Brink Lindsey reshapes our understanding of the vital but complex relationship between material prosperity and human flourishing. The advanced capitalist democracies of the 21st century are the richest, freest, healthiest, best educated, and best governed societies in history. Why then does it seem like everything is falling apart? Economic stagnation is spreading, class divisions are deepening, birth rates are collapsing, mental health problems are on the rise, faith in democracy is in decline, and pessimism about the future abounds.In The Permanent Problem, Brink Lindsey argues that these gathering difficulties reflect the stresses and strains of a great and uncompleted historical transition-from mass material prosperity to mass human flourishing. Capitalism's immense productive powers have raised our expectations of what life can be, but for most of us reality is coming up short. What's more, the arrival of mass prosperity has pushed both economic and cultural change in directions that make the transition to mass flourishing much harder to achieve.According to Lindsey, 21st century capitalism is in the grip of three interrelated crises: a crisis of inclusion, as vital social ties and personal connections are breaking down; a crisis of dynamism, as capitalism's engines of innovation and wealth creation have begun to sputter and seize; and a crisis of politics, as the mechanisms for collective decision-making needed to address capitalism's growing problems have been degraded by the very same dynamics that underlie those problems.A much brighter future is possible, and Lindsey charts an intriguing path to get there. There is no need to concoct a radical new social system. Instead, capitalism needs to be refocused on its core mission of extending the technological frontier, and rebalanced through the revitalization of face-to-face communities. Weaving together insights from history, economics, sociology, and philosophy, The Permanent Problem offers a synoptic overview of our fateful present moment and a provocative glimpse at what may lie ahead.

In The Permanent Problem, Brink Lindsey reshapes our understanding of the vital but complex relationship between material prosperity and human flourishing. The advanced capitalist democracies of the 21st century are the richest, freest, healthiest, best educated, and best governed societies in history. Why then does it seem like everything is falling apart? Economic stagnation is spreading, class divisions are deepening, birth rates are collapsing, mental health problems are on the rise, faith in democracy is in decline, and pessimism about the future abounds. In The Permanent Problem, Brink Lindsey argues that these gathering difficulties reflect the stresses and strains of a great and uncompleted historical transition-from mass material prosperity to mass human flourishing. Capitalism's immense productive powers have raised our expectations of what life can be, but for most of us reality is coming up short. What's more, the arrival of mass prosperity has pushed both economic and cultural change in directions that make the transition to mass flourishing much harder to achieve. According to Lindsey, 21st century capitalism is in the grip of three interrelated crises: a crisis of inclusion, as vital social ties and personal connections are breaking down; a crisis of dynamism, as capitalism's engines of innovation and wealth creation have begun to sputter and seize; and a crisis of politics, as the mechanisms for collective decision-making needed to address capitalism's growing problems have been degraded by the very same dynamics that underlie those problems. A much brighter future is possible, and Lindsey charts an intriguing path to get there. There is no need to concoct a radical new social system. Instead, capitalism needs to be refocused on its core mission of extending the technological frontier, and rebalanced through the revitalization of face-to-face communities. Weaving together insights from history, economics, sociology, and philosophy, The Permanent Problem offers a synoptic overview of our fateful present moment and a provocative glimpse at what may lie ahead.

In The Permanent Problem, Brink Lindsey reshapes our understanding of the vital but complex relationship between material prosperity and human flourishing. The advanced capitalist democracies of the 21st century are the richest, freest, healthiest, best educated, and best governed societies in history. Why then does it seem like everything is falling apart? Economic stagnation is spreading, class divisions are deepening, birth rates are collapsing, mental health problems are on the rise, faith in democracy is in decline, and pessimism about the future abounds. In The Permanent Problem, Brink Lindsey argues that these gathering difficulties reflect the stresses and strains of a great and uncompleted historical transition-from mass material prosperity to mass human flourishing. Capitalism's immense productive powers have raised our expectations of what life can be, but for most of us reality is coming up short. What's more, the arrival of mass prosperity has pushed both economic and cultural change in directions that make the transition to mass flourishing much harder to achieve. According to Lindsey, 21st century capitalism is in the grip of three interrelated crises: a crisis of inclusion, as vital social ties and personal connections are breaking down; a crisis of dynamism, as capitalism's engines of innovation and wealth creation have begun to sputter and seize; and a crisis of politics, as the mechanisms for collective decision-making needed to address capitalism's growing problems have been degraded by the very same dynamics that underlie those problems. A much brighter future is possible, and Lindsey charts an intriguing path to get there. There is no need to concoct a radical new social system. Instead, capitalism needs to be refocused on its core mission of extending the technological frontier, and rebalanced through the revitalization of face-to-face communities. Weaving together insights from history, economics, sociology, and philosophy, The Permanent Problem offers a synoptic overview of our fateful present moment and a provocative glimpse at what may lie ahead.

What explains the growing class divide between the well educated and everybody else? Noted author Brink Lindsey, a senior scholar at the Kauffman Foundation, argues that it's because economic expansion is creating an increasingly complex world in which only a minority with the right knowledge and skills--the right "human capital"--reap the majority of the economic rewards. The complexity of today's economy is not only making these lucky elites richer--it is also making them smarter. As the economy makes ever-greater demands on their minds, the successful are making ever-greater investments in education and other ways of increasing their human capital, expanding their cognitive skills and leading them to still higher levels of success. But unfortunately, even as the rich are securely riding this virtuous cycle, the poor are trapped in a vicious one, as a lack of human capital leads to family breakdown, unemployment, dysfunction, and further erosion of knowledge and skills.In this brief, clear, and forthright eBook original, Lindsey shows how economic growth is creating unprecedented levels of human capital--and suggests how the huge benefits of this development can be spread beyond those who are already enjoying its rewards.