While America Aged

May 5, 2008
Reports on pension insecurity, union battles and financial instability are unsettling stuff. Which makes it all the more worthwhile that Michael McConnohie reads Lowenstein's front-line report on pension squabbles in American urban outposts. McConnohie, who sounds like NBC anchor Brian Williams with a bit more gravel in his throat, renders the story of aging workers and how to support them with stern authority. If at times McConnohie is so stentorian as to sound like he has been carved out of granite, he does a solid job of underscoring the seriousness of the problems that Lowenstein investigates. Listening to him is like taking in a particularly in-depth audio version of the nightly news. A Penguin hardcover (Reviews, Mar. 17).

Starred review from March 17, 2008
America’s impending pension problem is brutally simple: private companies and governments have pledged to provide retirement income and health care for workers, but have not set aside the money to make good on their promises. Typical accounts of the crisis tend to obfuscate the issue and fixate on laying blame, but Lowenstein (Origins of the Crash
) has a refreshing perspective—he tells three fascinating stories in American economic history and situates the current pension problems in the struggle for dignity for workers. Lowenstein regards fixing pensions as a worthy culmination to a century’s struggle for justice rather than a painful chore unfairly foisted on the present by the past. Unfortunately, after this incisive and inspiring history lesson, the 10 pages at the end devoted to solutions are too abstract and unoriginal. The book gives the reader lively stories and historical insight, but may disappoint those looking for policy recommendations.