The Rise of America's Complacent Class

Guest: Tyler Cowen, PhD, Holbert L. Harris Chair of Economics, Chairman and General Director of the Mercatus Center, George Mason University When Donald Trump campaigned to “Make America Great Again,” he tapped into a feeling among many people that the American Dream is dying – if not already dead. A lot has been made of how disenfranchised white, working-class Americans feel in the current economy, but George Mason University economist Tyler Cowen says there's a wide swath of Americans, from the wealthiest and best-educated among us to those stuck in a cycle of low-wage work and dysfunctional personal lives, who have virtually given up on trying to boost their status. Cowen's new book is called "The Complacent Class: The Self-Defeating Quest for the American Dream.”