Robert Kuttner Interview

Robert Kuttner discusses his book, The Squandering of America: How the Failure of Our Politics Undermines Our Prosperity. The incomes of most Americans today are static or declining. Tens of millions of workers are newly vulnerable to layoffs and outsourcing. Health care and retirement burdens are increasingly being shifted from employers to individuals. Two-income families find they are working longer hours for lower wages, with decreased social support. As wealth has become more concentrated, the economy has become more recklessly speculative, jeopardizing not only the prospects of ordinary Americans, but the solvency of the entire system. According to Kuttner, what links these trends is Robert Kuttner in this provocative, engaging, and necessary book, is the consolidation of political and economic power by a narrow elite, who blocks the ability of government to restore broad prosperity to the majority of citizens. A co-founder and co-editor of The American Prospect magazine, Kuttner writes for the magazine regularly on a variety of issues. Mostly, however, he focuses on economic policy, both domestic and international. His editorial column, which first appears in The Boston Globe, then on the Prospect website every Thursday, is distributed to 20 major newspapers nationwide. It was awarded the John Hancock Award for excellence in business and financial journalism. As well, Kuttner won the Jack London Award for labor journalism. Recorded December 18, 2007