What's Luck Got to Do with It?: How Smarter Government Can Rescue the American Dream

America's economy is unfair; its politics unjust; its society unbalanced. Many people believe this across ideological divides. They differ on the reasons why and, not surprisingly, what should be done about it. Is there any room for common ground?Edward D. Kleinbard says yes. He argues that underlying all these crises are instances of systematic bad luck that deprive Americans of genuine equality of opportunity. We cannot control whether we are born to rich or poor parents, yet differences in wealth have radical implications for health,lifetime incomes, mobility within and across generations, and our sense of satisfaction with our lives and our country. Once we recognize this, we can agree on ways to diminish the importance of luck and increase the role of opportunity.What's Luck Got to Do With It? How Smarter Government Can Rescue the American Dream combines insights from economics, philosophy, religion, and social psychology to argue that the government's proper role is addressing the unfairness and injustice of brute luck. Kleinbard shows that well designedpublic insurance against existential bad luck can mitigate today's inequality gap by sharing the costs across the entire risk pool, which is to say, all of us. For example, through comprehensive public investments in better education - in human capital - we offer millions of young people figurativeinsurance against the bad luck of not being born into an affluent, highly-educated household. The benefits paid by insurance result in a more inclusive economy, greater national income, a broader sharing of growth, and greater life satisfaction for millions of Americans.Like it or not, our lives and opportunities are determined largely by luck. Kleinbard shows that while we can't undo every instance of misfortune, we can offer a path to not just a fairer America, but greater economic growth, more broadly shared.