Keeping Up with the Dow Joneses: Stocks, Jails, Welfare

About this title: In this short but powerful book of interlinked essays, noted cultural critic Vijay Prashad examines the contradictions of the American economy.

Prashad assesses a range of related issues: the oft-vaunted US economy, propped up by the rising debt of poor and middle-class workers; welfare policies that punish those attempting to escape the grip of debt and poverty; and a prison industry that regulates and houses the unemployed, as well as a reserve army of laborers.

In "Keeping Up with the Dow Joneses," Prashad argues that the advent of mass production and advertising has converted citizens ... read more

Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is further described below.