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Changing consumer choices have built microchip factories where cotton fields used to be and have doomed cities from New Bedford to Detroit, while the impact of these choices on jobs and tax revenues has stimulated the creation of models of consumer behavior. Even finely tuned econometric models, however, have not served well as guides for policy ch

(Hardback)

(Paperback)

Whether watching baseball or undergoing heart surgery, Americans have bought a variety of goods and services to achieve happiness. Here is a provocative look at what they have chosen to purchase. Stanley Lebergott maintains that the average consumer has behaved more reasonably than many distinguished critics of "materialism" have suggested. He sees

(Hardback)

(Paperback)

Every economic system exists only to satisfy human wants, yet most systems fail to do so. Taking a keen look at the gap between goal and result, Stanley Lebergott appraises public policies relating to the U.S. distribution of income and wealth today. Part I shows that many programs have disappointed their proponents because certain basic assumptio

(Hardback)

(Paperback)

There exist eight reliable ways to increase poverty and the United States is now pursuing seven of them, according to Lebergott. His provocative examination of income and wealth in this country reveals the impossibility of ending poverty permanently without changing American capitalism beyond recognition. Originally published in 1976. The Princet

(Hardback)