Pt. I: Foreword
Preface to the paperback edition
Government and change in America
The Danger of an ideology
The Evidence
Looking-back narratives from the right and left
The Myth of laissez-faire
The Many uses of government in the 1800s
Government as an agent of change in the 1900s
The Economic benefits of government
Resisting a pragmatic government
Pt. II: How much we have changed
The History of change
The New challenge to the standard of living
The Broad threat to the American promise
It's not just inequality
When knowledge also changes
The Purpose of government
Forsaking pragmatism for ideology
Pt. III: What to do
Pessimism in America
The Failure of conventional wisdom
America has the money
An Agenda
Notes
Index.