Description
Book SynopsisWage stagnation, growing inequality, and even poverty itself have resulted from decades of neoliberal decision making, not the education system, writes Neil Kraus in his urgent call to action, The Fantasy Economy. Kraus claims the idea that both the education system and labor force are chronically deficient was aggressively and incorrectly promoted starting in the Reagan era, when corporate interests and education reformers emphasized education as the exclusive mechanism providing the citizenry with economic opportunity. However, as this critical book reveals, that is a misleading articulation of the economy and education system rooted in the economic self-interests of corporations and the wealthy. The Fantasy Economy challenges the basic assumptions of the education reform movement of the last few decades. Kraus insists that education cannot control the labor market and unreliable corporate narratives fuel this misinformation. Moreover, misguided public policies, such as accountabil
Trade Review“A milestone recasting of a longstanding debate—education reform—that has for too long perpetuated false narratives about working classes and elite reproduction. The Fantasy Economy
reclaims the emancipatory power of education. It is not to be missed.”—
Clara E. Mattei, Associate Professor of Economics at the New School, and author of
The Capital Order: How Economists Invented Austerity and Paved the Way to Fascism“Deep-pocketed interests tell us that our economy suffers from educational gaps, not imbalances of power. The rest of us should read Neil Kraus’s revelatory book and call this ubiquitous idea what it is: a fantasy that makes Americans more unequal and insecure.”—
Jacob S. Hacker, Stanley Resor Professor of Political Science, Yale University, and author of
The Great Risk Shift: The New Economic Insecurity and the Decline of the American Dream
