Hi, I'm Paul Constant. I'm a writer at Civic Ventures. I am very excited to be joining you today in this episode because we are talking with Jim Tankersley.

He is the economics reporter at the New York Times.

Before that he was at the Washington Post. He's one of the leading economics reporters in the country,

and he's here today with his new book,

The Ritches of this Land,

which is a history of the American middle class,

how it was once the driving force of our economy

and how it has been diminished in the years since

and what we can do to bring it back. Bring it's Jim Tanker's Lee,

First, I was wondering if you could give us your slate, your name and title, please. Sure.

It's Jim Tanker's Lee, Tax and Economics reporter at the New York Times and the author of The Riches of

this land, the Untold True Story of America's middle class.

And for our readers who haven't read it, you could maybe give a little summary of what it's about.

Yeah the book is the story of why the middle class boomed after World War II in the United States

and what we need us is that the

wonderful hopeful conclusion what history shows us

is that the American economy grows and thrives

when women and men of color and immigrants get ahead are given

more opportunity when we reduce discrimination and give them more pathways to contribute

their talents to our economy. It worked in the 50s and 60s and 70s and it can work again now.

We have an economy primed with talented people who are being held back by the forces of discrimination and by unleashing them we can absolutely set things right again.

And because this book is so explicitly about the American middle class, I find on this

...