Winner of the 2004 Hagley Prize for the Best Book in Business History, Business History Conference Winner of the 2004 Ellis W. Hawley Prize, Organization of American Historians "[T]his book provides a fresh and compelling interpretation of some of the critical junctures in the development of old-age pensions and health insurance. This carefully argued and documented book is also invaluable ... Read morefor anyone wrestling with the question of 'what next?' for social security and health-care reform in the United States."
Marie Gottschalk, International Review of Social History "What makes this splendid book so enlightening is Klein's ability to see multiple actors in motion and to grasp how several complex dynamics intersected in the crucial years between 1920 and 1950. Policy makers, political actors, union leaders, rank-and-file workers, associations, employers, insurers: all played a key role in the path
determining decisions taken in these crucial years. Klein handles all of these actors with a sure hand... By brilliantly illuminating the historical roots of today's growing crisis, she makes an enormous contribution."
Joseph A. McCartin, American Historical Review "[Klein] pull[s] no punches. By bringing political economy back in, [she] offer[s] the most complex and satisfying explanation to date of America's exceptional trajectory toward the public-private welfare state... [This book] will have a lasting impact on the way policy scholars see the public-private welfare state."
Beatrix Hoffman, Journal of Policy History "For scholars of the welfare state, this book provides a fresh and compelling interpretation of some of the critical junctures in the development of old-age pensions and health insurance. This carefully argued and documented book is also invaluable for anyone wrestling with the question of 'what next' for social security and health-care reform in the United States."
Marie Gottschalk, International Review of Social History Show Less