Populists on both sides of the political aisle routinely announce that the American Dream is dead. According to them, the game has been rigged by elites, workers can’t get ahead, wages have been stagnant for decades, and the middle class is dying. 

Michael R. Strain, director of economic policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute, disputes this rhetoric as wrong and dangerous. In this succinctly argued volume, he shows that, on measures of economic opportunity and quality of life, there has never been a better time to be alive in America. He backs his argument with overwhelming—and underreported—data to show how the facts favor realistic optimism.

Introduction / 3
Part 1: The American Dream Is Not Dead
1. Defining the Dream / 9
2. Today’s Message: The Dream Is Dead / 11
3. We Have Real Challenges / 15
4. The American Dream Is Not Dead / 23
5. Today’s Economy Is Delivering / 27
6. Incomes Are Growing / / 33
7. Quality of Life Has Clearly Improved / 59
8. “Hollowing Out” Won’t Be the End of the Story / 63
9. America Is an Upwardly Mobile Society / 77
10. Advancing the Dream / 101
Part 2: Dissenting Points of View
11. Populism Isn’t the Problem: It’s a Response to Inequality by E. J. Dionne / 115
12. Why Economic Trends Support Conservative Populism by Henry Olsen / 125
13. A Response to E. J. Dionne and Henry Olsen / 133
Acknowledgments 143Notes / 145
About the Contributors / 151
About the Author / 153

Michael R. Strain is Director of Economic Policy Studies and Arthur F. Burns Scholar in Political Economy at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI). An economist, his research has been published in academic and policy journals and he has edited two books on economics and public policy. He is a research fellow at the Institute of Labor Economics (IZA) in Bonn, Germany, writes regularly for popular audiences, and is a columnist for Bloomberg Opinion. Strain is frequently interviewed by major media outlets, speaks often to a variety of audiences, and has testified before Congress. He holds a PhD in economics from Cornell University and lives in Washington, DC.