This is a book that challenges the mind on current economic events. It makes the reader really question his or her values by taking history and comparing it with current events. Those historical occasions are detailed in a way that demonstrates how the middle class is being destroyed at an alarming pace. People are no longer able to make the traditional ‘American Dream’ happen. Most are fortunate to make ends meet at the end of the month. Nearly every month there seems to be an increasing gap between the have and the have not's. The author goes into great detail of why the country has lost the area in the middle.

This book was a very fascinating read for me. I had to give it four out of five stars due to its slowness. Although it has a tremendous amount of information, it was sluggish to read at times. The book was well written and executed. I thought the author’s explanations and examples were solid and found his logic to be interesting. This book would be very good for those that are into the economic field or political aspect of the nation. It is a great educational tool or reference for a school report. I see no reason why it could not be used by an upper level high school student or economics student. I do recommend this book, but wish it is was a little shorter.I must thank both the author and Goodreads for sending this book to me in a giveaway. It was much appreciated and I enjoyed reading it! Thank you. ( )

Pretending to be a liberal solution to the loss of the middle class. Each chapter of the 'solution' details a way to save jobs and middle-class and then shoots it down. In one place he claims there are only about 1.25 million people working for minimum wage - really? Bet there are that many in my state alone. As to SNAP and Soc Sec pretty much says we have to cut someone loose - either children or elderly will need to be left to die.

An in depth and well researched book about the rise and fall of the American middle class but more importantly how this segment of society can make a comeback. The central thrust of the author's argument is that rather than seeing competing nations across the world in a wary manner as competitors we should position ourselves to take advantage of the markets in these developing countries. He speaks to how China is already doing this and we may find ourselves left out if we don't. India and Nigeria are two of several nations he points out. Our middle class, he believes, will benefit if we focus on trade and good relationships with these countries. ( )

received a hardcover edition of this book through a GoodReads.com giveaway and the following is my honest opinion for it.

This book is a far cry from the myriad of genres of fiction books and memoirs I’ve reviewed to date. It’s not the type of book readers can read right through without taking any sort of break; they need to absorb each one chapter one at a time to reap the greatest benefits this book has to offer them.

The manner in which Mr. Kiernan has written his fact-filled book causes readers to want to read more by eagerly turning to the next page, which is usually not prevalent in books of this genre. Taking readers on a time travel trip to the past to view FDR taking us out of the Depression the entire nation had still been reeling in when he took office, adds a glimmer of hope for the middle class in seeing some light at the end of the tunnel to their present economic condition. One needs to look at the economic history of this country in order to avoid any possible repeat of the faux pas which has already transpired in the past.

For his thought-provoking endeavor I’m giving Mr. Kiernan 5 STARS. ( )

I received a free copy for an honest review

This book was very interesting! It covered the middle class society from the past to the present. It went over a variety of topics. It was so well written it did not read like a bland boring history book, but more of a gripping novel. ( )