The Great Divergence

For the past three decades, America has steadily become a nation of haves and have-nots. Our incomes are increasingly drastically unequal: the top 1% of Americans collect almost 20% of the nation's income-more than double their share in 1973. We have less equality of income than Venezuela, Kenya, or Yemen.

What economics Nobelist Paul Krugman terms "the Great Divergence" has until now been treated as little more than a talking point, a club to be wielded in ideological battles. But it may be the most important change in this country during our lifetimes-a sharp, fundamental shift in the character of American society, and not at all for the better.

The income gap has been blamed on everything from computers to immigration, but its causes and consequences call for a patient, non-partisan exploration. In The Great Divergence, Timothy Noah delivers this urgently needed inquiry, ignoring political rhetoric and drawing on the best work of contemporary researchers to peer beyond conventional wisdom. Noah explains not only how the Great Divergence has come about, but why it threatens American democracy-and most important, how we can begin to reverse it.

The Great Divergence is poised to be one of the most talked-about books of 2012, a jump-start to the national conversation about what kind of society we aspire to be in the 21st century: a land of equality, or a city on a hill-with a slum at the bottom.

Advance praise for The Great Divergence:

"This book is profoundly fascinating and important. The growth of income equality over the past three decades has caused a contentious partisan debate based more on ideology than fact. Timothy Noah provides a clear, dispassionate look at what has (and has not) caused this trend and what we can do about it. Everyone who cares about the future of America's middle class should read it."-Walter Isaacson, author of Steve Jobs, Einstein, and Benjamin Franklin; president of the Aspen Institute

"This may be the most important book of the year. Timothy Noah explores the most significant long-term trend in our country, and he writes with an ease and clarity that makes reading this book a pleasure. Buy it now and read it. You'll probably end up buying more copies for your friends and colleagues."-Thomas E. Ricks, author of Fiasco and The Gamble

"This is the book the 99% has been waiting for. Crisply lucid and brilliantly argued, The Great Divergence manages to entertain at the same time that it explains. Best of all, Noah offers some strikingly sensible steps to undo the economic polarization that is tearing America apart."-Barbara Ehrenreich, author of Nickel and Dimed; Bait and Switch; and Bright-Sided

"Timothy Noah has taken the most consequential domestic issue of this or any election and made us understand it in a completely new way. The Great Divergence is compelling, important and hugely readable. I learned something new in almost every sentence."-Jonathan Alter, author of The Promise and The Defining Moment

Praise for Timothy Noah's The Great Divergence series in Slate:

"An important, exemplary, and finally passionate work of long-form journalism."-Hendrik Hertzberg

"An excellent series."-Nicholas Kristof, New York Times

"A must-read."-Jesse Singal, Boston Globe

"Characteristically thoughtful and well-written."-David Von Drehle, Time