A generous revolution. The Kennedy transition ; "The system is to blame" ; Implementing the elite wisdom -- Being poor, being black : 1950-1980. Poverty ; Employment ; Wages and occupations ; Education ; Crime ; The family ; The view from 1966 -- Interpreting the data. The social scientists and the great experiment ; Incentives to fail I : maximizing short-term gains ; Incentives to fail II : crime and education ; The destruction of status rewards -- Rethinking social policy. What do we want to accomplish? ; The constraints on helping ; Choosing a future
Summary
This outspoken and explosive book argues that the ambitious social programs of the Great Society to help the poor and disadvantaged not only did not accomplish what they set out to do but often made things worse
