"Joel Blau has written a thoughtful and cogent analysis of the state of American society today, the impact of the market system on working families, and the consequences likely to flow from weakening the safety net further. The 'Next Deal' solutions he proposes - full employment policies, living wages, protection of the right to organize, stepped up infrastructural investments and ... Read moremeaningful social welfare protections - are cornerstones of any economic and political democracy, which lawmakers would do well to keep in mind as they shape policy for the 21st century."
John Sweeney, President, AFL CIO "Blau has compiled a powerful brief against the neo-laissez faire doctrines that have dominated American economic and social welfare policy for three decades."
Richard A. Cloward and Frances Fox Piven, authors of Breaking the American Social Contract "Clearly written, closely argued, and carefully documented, Illusions of Prosperity is an indispensable guide to public policy in these uncertain times. Blau not only charts how the American government's embrace of laissez-faire ideology has wreaked havoc...he tells us what can be done to undo the damage. Must reading for anyone who cares about what's happening to the average American."
Charles Noble, Professor of Political Science, California State University, Long Beach, and the author of Welfare As We Knew It: A Political History of the American Welfare State "Blau's analysis is rigorous, readable, and prophetic. It should be widely consulted."
Journal of Sociology and Social Welfare Show Less