Truthdig - Arts and Culture - Nicholas von Hoffman on ‘The Conscience of a Liberal’

Hoffman reviews Krugman's latest. Also listen to, or read the transcript of the Truthdig interview with the author. [Excerpt] "Paul Krugman’s 'The Conscience of a Liberal' has arrived at the apposite moment. The latest figures on income disparity are out simultaneously with this book and they are grim. The Wall Street Journal reports: 'The wealthiest 1% of Americans earned 21.2% of all income in 2005, according to new data from the Internal Revenue Service. ... The bottom 50% earned 12.8% of all income, down from 13.4% in 2004 and a bit less than their 13% share in 2000.' It is such alarming facts which prompt Krugman to write that, in addition to low- and middle-income families falling behind, there is '… the damage extreme inequality does to our society and our democracy. Ever since America’s founding, our idea of ourselves has been that of a nation without sharp class distinctions—not a leveled society of perfect equality but one in which the gap between the economic elite and the typical citizen isn’t an unbridgeable chasm. That’s why Thomas Jefferson wrote, ‘The small landholders are the most precious part of a state.’” ... Read the rest at Truthdig