the United States can be complicated. This book tries to make it simple. So, each chapter starts with one of six nice, simple facts: 1) middle-class wages are going nowhere; 2) the gender wage gap is stuck in neutral; 3) marriage is now for the rich; 4) the racial wage gap hasn't budged since 1975; 5) incomes at the top are exploding; and 6) children with rich parents do better as adults. Then, it gets real.

In this book, you'll learn basic economics, like how wages are determined, and the changing roles of technology, education, caregiving, and discrimination. But, you'll also goes beyond the basics, into topics like the economics of marriage and crime. And, like a good class, the material snowballs. By the time you get to the chapter on racial inequality, you will be able to connect the dots from discrimination in labor markets to racial inequality in marriage. You will be thinking like an economist.

This author will donate 25 percent of his proceeds to Big Brothers Big Sisters of Eastern Massachusetts.