The Myth That Made Us How False Beliefs about Racism and Meritocracy Broke Our Economy (and How to Fix It)

by Fuhrer, Jeff

• ISBN13: 9780262048392
• ISBN10: 0262048396
• eBook ISBN(s): 9780262375825
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2023-09-12
• Publisher: The MIT Press
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Summary

How our false narratives about post-racism and meritocracy have been used to condone egregious economic outcomes—and what we can do to fix the system.

2024 Axiom Business Book Awards - Silver Medal in Economics

The Myth That Made Us exposes how false narratives—of a supposedly post-racist nation, of the self-made man, of the primacy of profit- and shareholder value-maximizing for businesses, and of minimal government interference—have been used to excuse gross inequities and to shape and sustain the US economic system that delivers them. Jeff Fuhrer argues that systemic racism continues to produce vastly disparate outcomes and that our brand of capitalism favors doing little to reduce disparities. Evidence from other developed capitalist economies shows it doesn’t have to be that way. We broke this (mean-spirited) economy. We can fix it.

Rather than merely laying blame at the feet of both conservatives and liberals for aiding and abetting an unjust system, Fuhrer charts a way forward. He supplements evidence from data with insights from community voices and outlines a system that provides more equal opportunity to accumulate both human and financial capital. His key areas of focus include universal access to high-quality early childhood education; more effective use of our community college system as a pathway to stable employment; restructuring key aspects of the low-wage workplace; providing affordable housing and transit links; supporting people of color by serving as mentors, coaches, and allies; and implementing Baby Bonds and Reparations programs to address the accumulated loss of wealth among Black people due to the legacy of enslavement and institutional discrimination. Fuhrer emphasizes embracing humility, research-based approaches, and community involvement as ways to improve economic opportunity.

Author Biography

Jeff Fuhrer is a Foundation Fellow at the Eastern Bank Foundation. He was previously Executive Vice President and Director of Research at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, where he was also responsible for the bank’s diversity and inclusion functions.

Table of Contents

A Note from Eastern Bank Foundation vii
Preface: A Mainstream Economist Discovers His Blind Spots ix
Introduction: Like Dives before Lazarus 1
Part I The Myth 13
1 Our National Economic Mythology 17
2 Public Belief in The Myth: A Survey of Polling Results 35
3 An Origin Story for The Myth: Roots in the Founding of the Republic 49
Part II The Facts 57
4 How Broken Are We? Low (and Unequal) Incomes 63
5 How Broken Are We? The Distribution of Wealth 79
6 Broken Work: The Prevalence and Characteristics of "Low-Quality" Jobs 93
7 The Rest of the Story: More Signs of Brokenness 101
Part III The Myth versus the Facts 113
8 Evidence against The Myth 117
9 This Is Not the Only Way: International Comparisons 131
Part IV Broken by Design: How We Have Chosen to Create and Sustain Our Broken System 137
10 The History of Systems That Have Been Shaped by The Myth 143
Part V The Wreckage 179
11 The Loss Looking Backward 183
12 The Loss Looking Forward 189
Part VI What Are You Prepared to Do? The Way Forward 197
13 Change the Narrative 201
14 How to Get There: A Program to Build Human and Financial Capital 209
15 The Other Half of the Battle: Implementation Matters 239
Conclusion: A Vision of Opportunity 247
Acknowledgments 249
Notes 255
Bibliography 295
Index 337