Strain, director of economic studies s a i, widely published scholar in a comic finance and many other areas in his new book is an exceptionally clear and broad overview of the state of American Economic life, the actual conditions we face, the trends over recent decades, the dark stories we hear in our politics about the conditions americans have experienced and what our prospects are. Things are better than the mood of our politics and the critics of the market economy would sometimes suggest, we do face risks and maybe the mood and those critics are among the most important of those risks. It is a controversial thesis. As a conservative im resistant to being cheered up and told everything is fine but it is a powerfully argued thesis it as you will see a very thoroughly supported thesis. Joining us to respond to mikes argument is richard reeves, one of the smartest policy thinkers in washington, the whitehead chair and senior fellow of economic studies at the brookings institution, d