Inclusion in the American Dream Assets, Poverty, and Public Policy [Paperback]

Inclusion in the American Dreambrings together leading scholars and policy experts on the topic of asset building, particularly as this relates to public policy. The typical American household accumulates most of its assets in home equity and retirement accounts, both of which are subsidized through the tax system. But the poor, for the most part, do not participate in these asset accumulation policies. The challenge is to expand the asset-based policy structure so that everyone is included.

Michael Sherraden's pathbreaking work on savings has had a profound impact on public policy. He has demonstrated that low-income households can save, and that savings are critical to insure against job loss, illness, and other life emergencies, as well as to build assets for long-term well-being. His institutional theory of savings has helped to change the way we understand basic economic choices facing families. Now, in this volume, Sherraden and his co-authors show us how to begin to move beyond individual development accounts to build a truly inclusive asset policy that is both progressive and universal. Sherraden's intellectual contribution to assets policy is simply astounding. -Michael S. Barr, Assistant Professor of Law, University of Michigan Law School; nonresident senior fellow, The Brookings Institution; former senior official of the United States Treasury Department; and former special advisor to President Clinton

Inclusion in the American Dreamis an important antidote to the biased social policies inherent in recent large-scale tax cuts in the United States and policies for privatization of social security. These policies are asset building for the well-to-do, leaving the poor out of state state-sponsored opportunities for asset building. These research studies amply demonstrate the importance of an inclusive asset policy for the well-being of American families and the realization of the American dream for all. --Melvin L. Oliverl¦