Eric Laursen

The People's Pension

Eric Laursen

The People's Pension covers a period of Social Security history that no one else has covered, let alone in so much depth, and it presents a unique interpretation of why the politics of Social Security have played out as they have since the Reagan years.Slated to release in April 2012, The People's Pension will make its appearance in the midst of the presidential primaries, when Social Security will undoubtedly be a major issue. The fate of Social Security has been in question for years now, and with the recent threat that checks might not be going out in August, the fear of scrapping the program altogether seems increasingly plausible.Written in a clear, accessible style, The People's Pension will be of interest to every working American who worries about their future with Social Security, as well as political or social policy analysts and scholars, anarchists and left libertarians, grassroots activists, labor organizers, progressive lawmakers committed to defending Social Security, anyone interested in the history of the U.S. from the Reagan era on, and conservative and center-right opponents of Social Security.

Understanding the Crash

Eric Laursen

Understanding the Crash starts with a simple question that still haunts us all: What has happened to the world economy? With the kind of striking precision that only graphic nonfiction can provide, Seth Tobocman and Eric Laursen explain just how we got into this mess — and how we can get out of it.Looking back across more than a quarter century, the authors outline the roots of our current economic crisis. They show how the troubles of a working-class community in Cleveland or a newly built suburb of Miami became an international financial crisis, explaining the complex new forms of credit that came into being because of financial deregulation, and how they created an economic whirlpool. From there they discuss how, over the same time span, a smaller and smaller group of people came to control a larger and larger percentage of the world’s money — a result of rising inequality that, combined with the shortage of affordable housing, a decline in real wages, and our unwavering belief in an “ownership society,” impelled poor people into debt. Tobocman and Laursen conclude with a consideration of a restructured financial system and a look toward a culture of sustainability — one that covets real wealth in the form of security, meaningful work, and community.