The Great Recession is not done with us yet. While the most acute part of the
economic crisis is past, the recession's most significant impact on American
life still lies in the future. The personal, social, and cultural changes that
result from severe economic shocks build and manifest themselves only slowly.
But history shows us that, ultimately, shocks this severe profoundly alter the
character of society.Don Pecks Pinched, a fascinating and harrowing exploration
of our dramatic economic climate, keenly observes how the recession has changed
the places we live, the work we do, and even who we areand details the
transformations that are yet to come. Every class and every generation will be
affected: newly minted college graduates, blue-collar men, affluent
professionals, exurban families, elite financiers, inner city youth, middle-
class retirees. This was not an ordinary recession, and ordinary responses will
not fully end it. The crash has shifted the course of the economy. In its
aftermath, the middle class is shrinking faster, wealth is becoming more
concentrated, twenty-somethings are sinking, and working-class families and
communities are changing in unsavory ways.We sit today between two eras,
buffeted, anxious, and uncertain of the future. Through vivid reporting and
lucid argument, Peck helps us make sense of how our society has changed, and
why so many people are still struggling. The answers to these questions reveal
a new way forward for America. The country has endured periods like this one
before, and has emerged all the stronger from them; adaptation and reinvention
have been perhaps the nations best and most enduring traits. The time is ripe
for another such reinvention. Pinched lays out the principles and public
actions that can help us pull it off.

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