First Page
51
Abstract
The books featured in the Debt in the Real World Symposium paint compelling portraits of American financial insecurity and distress. The fact that half of U.S. households cannot make ends meet is a devastating development, but it also presents an opportunity for making change because economic insecurity is now an “us” problem rather than a “them” problem. The next step is to organize, and as part of that process, to develop a vision of an economy that works for everyone. The title of one featured book, Michele Dickerson’s forthcoming The Middle Class New Deal, is a strong starting point because the term “middle class” is politically unassailable and her framework harnesses the movement that created the U.S. middle class. Any such movement, however, is vulnerable to the racist attacks that hamstrung the original New Deal and abetted its unraveling. There are no easy solutions, but deliberately inclusive organizing focused on economic insecurity would be an important start.
Recommended Citation
Angela K. Littwin,
A Middle-Class New Deal: A Call to Action,
20 Brook. J. Corp. Fin. & Com. L.
51
(2025).
Available at:
https://brooklynworks.brooklaw.edu/bjcfcl/vol20/iss1/4
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