Unbound

Do Americans really have to choose between equality and prosperity? Many economists argue that reducing economic inequality would require such heavy-handed interference with market forces that it would stifle economic growth. In Unbound: How Inequality Constricts Our Economy and What We Can Do about It (opens in a new tab), Washington Center for Equitable Growth President and CEO Heather Boushey insists nothing could be further from the truth. Presenting cutting-edge economics with journalistic verve, she shows how today’s inequality has become a drag on growth and an impediment to free market efficiency.

Unbound exposes deep problems in the U.S. economy, but its conclusions are optimistic. Boushey argues that policymakers can preserve the best of our economic and political traditions, and improve on them, by pursing policies that reduce inequality and boost growth. The most critical steps are those that limit inequality’s ability to constrict our economy and tackle the ways that the concentration of economic resources translate into political and social power. The solutions start with addressing the subversions, which creates the opportunity to remove obstructions and limit distortions in the broader economy. Unbound explores several tools that policymakers can adopt to rebalance our economy.