Tailspin: The People and Forces Behind America's Fifty-Year Fall--and Those Fighting to Reverse It

by Steven Brill

Overview

In this revelatory narrative covering the years 1967 to 2017, Steven Brill gives us a stunningly cogent picture of the broken system at the heart of our society. He shows us how, over the last half century, America’s core values—meritocracy, innovation, due process, free speech, and even democracy itself—have somehow managed to power its decline into dysfunction. They have isolated our best and brightest, whose positions at the top have never been more secure or more remote.

The result has been an erosion of responsibility and accountability, an epidemic of shortsightedness, an increasingly hollow economic and political center, and millions of Americans gripped by apathy and hopelessness. By examining the people and forces behind the rise of big-money lobbying, legal and financial engineering, the demise of private-sector unions, and a hamstrung bureaucracy, Brill answers the question on everyone’s mind: How did we end up this way? Finally, he introduces us to those working quietly and effectively to repair the damages. At once a diagnosis of our national ills, a history of their development, and a prescription for a brighter future, Tailspin is a work of riveting journalism—and a welcome antidote to political despair.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780525432012
Publisher:	Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
Publication date:	04/02/2019
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	480
Sales rank:	161,211
Product dimensions:	5.10(w) x 7.90(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

STEVEN BRILL has written for The New Yorker, Time, The New York Times Magazine, Esquire, New York, and Fortune. He founded and ran Court TV, The American Lawyer magazine, ten regional legal newspapers, and Brill's Content magazine. Brill was the author of Time's March 4, 2013, special report "Bitter Pill: Why Medical Bills Are Killing Us," for which he won the 2014 National Magazine Award for Public Interest, and the 2015 bestseller America's Bitter Pill. He has regularly appeared as an expert analyst on NBC, CBS, and CNN. He teaches journalism at Yale, where he founded the Yale Journalism Initiative to enable talented young people to become journalists. In 2018, he cofounded NewsGuard, which rates the legitimacy of online news sites. He lives in New York City.

Read an Excerpt

Chapter 1: The Protected and the Unprotected

Is the world's greatest democracy and economy broken? Not compared to the Civil War years, or to the early 1930s. And not if one considers the miracles happening every day in America's laboratories, on the campuses of its world-class colleges and universities, in offices and lofts full of developers creating software for robots or for medical diagnostics, in concert halls and on Broadway stages, or at joyous ceremonies swearing in proud new citizens. And certainly not if the opportunities available today to woman, non-whites, and other minorities are compared to what they faced as recently as a few decades ago.

Yet measures of public engagement, satisfaction, and confidence—voter turnout, knowledge of public policy issues, faith that the next generation will have it better than the current one, and respect for basic institutions, especially the government—are far below the levels of a half century ago, and in many cases have reached historic lows. So deep is the estrangement that 46.1 percent of American voters were so disgusted with the status quo that in 2016 they chose to put Donald Trump in the White House.

It is difficult to argue that the cynicism is misplaced. From the relatively small things—that Americans are now navigating through an average of 657 water main breaks a day, for example—to the core strengths that once propelled America, it is clear that the country has gone into a tailspin since the post-war era, when John F. Kennedy's New Frontier was about seizing the future, not trying to survive the present.

The celebrated American economic mobility engine is sputtering. A child's chance of earning more than his or her parents has dropped from 90 percent to 50 percent in the last fifty years. The American middle class, once the inspiration of the world, is no longer the world's richest.

Income inequality has snowballed. Adjusted for inflation, middle-class wages have been nearly frozen for the last four decades, and discretionary income has declined if escalating out-of-pocket health care costs and insurance premiums are counted. Yet earnings by the top one percent have tripled. The recovery from the crash of 2008—which saw banks and bankers bailed out while millions lost their homes, savings, and jobs—was reserved almost exclusively for the top one percent. Their incomes in the three years following the crash went up by nearly a third, while the bottom 99 percent saw an uptick of less than half of one percent. Only a democracy and an economy that has discarded its basic mission of holding the community together, or failed at it, would produce those results.

Most Americans with average incomes have been left largely to fend for themselves, often at jobs where automation, outsourcing, the near-vanishing of union protection, and the boss's obsession with squeezing out every penny of short-term profit have eroded any sense of security. Self-inflicted deaths—from opioid and other drug abuse, alcoholism, and suicide—are at record highs, so much so that the country's average life expectancy has been falling despite medical advances. Household debt by 2017 had grown higher than the peak reached in 2007 before the crash, with student and automobile loans having edged toward mortgages as the top claims on family paychecks.

The world's richest country continues to have the highest poverty rate among the thirty-five nations in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), except for Mexico. (It is tied in second to last place with Israel, Chile, and Turkey.) Nearly one in five of America's children live in households that their government classifies as "food-insecure," meaning they are without "access to enough food for an active, healthy life."

Beyond that, few of the basic services seem to work as they should. America's airports are an embarrassment, and a modern air traffic control system is twenty-five years behind schedule. The power grid, roads, and rails are crumbling, pushing the United States far down international rankings for infrastructure quality. Despite spending more on health care and K-12 education per capita than any other developed country, health care outcomes and student achievement also rank in the middle or worse internationally. The U.S. has the highest infant mortality rate and lowest life expectancy of its peer countries, and among the thirty-five OECD countries American children rank thirtieth in math proficiency and nineteenth in science.

American politicians talk about "American exceptionalism" so habitually that it should have its own key on their speechwriters' laptops. Is this the exceptionalism they have in mind?

The operative word to describe the performance of our lawmakers in Washington D.C., responsible for guiding what is supposed to be the world's greatest democracy, is pathetic. Congress has not passed a comprehensive budget since 1994. Like slacker schoolchildren unable to produce a book report on time, the country's elected leaders have fallen back instead on an endless string of last-minute deadline extensions and piecemeal appropriations. Legislation to deal with big, long-term challenges, like climate change, the mounting national debt, or job displacement, is a pipe dream. It is as if the great breakthroughs of the past, marked by bipartisan signing ceremonies in the White House—the establishment of the Federal Trade Commission, Social Security, interstate highways, the Food and Drug Administration, Medicare, civil rights legislation, the EPA—are part of some other country's history.

There are more than twenty registered lobbyists for every member of Congress. Most are deployed to block anything that would tax, regulate, or otherwise threaten a deep-pocketed client. Money has come to dominate everything so completely that those we send to Washington to represent us have been reduced to begging on the phone for campaign cash four or five hours a day and spending their evenings taking checks at fund-raisers organized by those swarming lobbyists. A gerrymandering process has rigged easy wins for most of them, as long as they fend off primary challengers in their own party—which assures that they will gravitate toward the polarizing, special interest positions of their donors and their party's base, while racking up mounting deficits to pay for goods and services that cost more than budgeted, rarely work as promised, and are never delivered on time.

Table of Contents

1 The Protected and the Unprotected 3

2 Meritocracy Becomes the New Aristocracy 17

3 Casino Country 47

4 The Greening of the First Amendment 90

5 Making Markets Efficient-and Marginalizing Those Left Behind 133

6 "Lip Service" for America's Workers 148

7 Dysfunctional Democracy 169

8 Moat Nation 197

9 Why Nothing Works 257

10 Broken 290

11 Protecting the Most Unprotected 313

12 Storming the Moats 330

Acknowledgments 343

A Note on Methodology and Sources 347

Notes 349

Index 417

Editorial Reviews

*A Publishers Weekly Best Book of 2018*

“Persuasive, bracing . . . an essential read if you want to understand the pressures that have brought a sclerotic Uncle Sam to his knees." —Alexander C. Kafka, Los Angeles Review of Books

“Tailspin distinguishes itself within the America Gone Wrong genre. . . . All of the book’s chapters on the law crackle with energy. . . . In a downbeat era, Tailspin offers some modest ammunition for hope.” —Daniel W. Drezner, The New York Times Book Review

"Steven Brill's Tailspin does precisely what the daily torrent of news does not: make sense. The book is nothing less than a unified (and persuasive) theory of everything—including politics, business, culture—and it even includes several glimmers of hope amid the pervasive darkness." —Jeffrey Toobin, author of American Heiress

“A penetrating and personal examination of why the United States is in the midst of a nervous breakdown. But with his fantastically reported story, Brill also shows how—and who—might restore some common sense and equilibrium.” —Bob Woodward  

“An astonishingly shrewd and detailed account of our modern American reality . . . Tailspin offers something unique: a meticulous cross-disciplinary history.” —Mattea Kramer, The New York Journal of Books

“A compelling story. . . . The fact that America’s best values and ideas, in Brill’s estimation, contributed to its tailspin should give us more than just momentary pause." —Paul Rosenberg, Salon

“An absolute must-read: a brilliant chronicle of the failures of America’s elite.” —Steve Hilton, host of Fox News’ The Next Revolution

“This is a book that pulses with dry intelligence and righteous anger.” —Philip Delves Broughton, The Weekly Standard
 
“An eye-opening and engrossing treatise representative of all that is wrong with today’s political processes.” —Library Journal (starred review)
 
“A dysfunctional system serving an unaccountable ruling class is wrecking America, according to this searing sociopolitical jeremiad. . . . [Brill] brings both detailed reporting and wide-ranging perspective to this insightful account of how America reached its current state.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“Penetrating . . . in large part because of Brill’s skill in presenting abstruse legal and financial developments in an accessible manner. . . . [A] clarifying and invaluable overview.” —Booklist (starred review)

“Steven Brill is a remarkable journalist who has always ventured away from the herd. In Tailspin, he has identified and analyzed brilliantly the surprising pressure points where our democracy has fractured and failed over the past half-century, leading to today’s overwhelming dysfunction and cultural polarization. In uncovering what happened, Brill shows us that there may be a way back from America’s dire predicament.” —Carl Bernstein

“[Brill] offers ample evidence that American democracy is in peril. . . . Hard-hitting.” —Kirkus

“Steve Brill has written a book that every American should read. It faces the problems of our immediate past unflinchingly. At the same time it sees the seedlings of hope all across America. Ultimately, it reminds us that America is in the choices we make as citizens. The future is up to us.” —Bill Bradley, former U.S. senator

“Lucid and engaging.” —The National Book Review

“Tailspin is a must read for all citizens troubled by the inequities, malfunctions and bizarre shape of our public and private sectors.” —Tom Brokaw

“Complaining about American politics has become a national pastime. But in his expertly researched new book, Steven Brill does far more than identify what’s wrong: he explains why American democracy isn’t working. And he gives us the powerful stories and surprising personalities who are feeding—and fighting—our democratic dysfunction.” —Jacob S. Hacker, Stanley B. Resor Professor of Political Science at Yale, and Co-Author, American Amnesia: How the War on Government Led Us to Forget What Made America Prosper

“Brill's perceptive analysis about how the cult of meritocracy has tragically created an entrenched elite who are determined to defend their moats—and make themselves, rather than America, "great"—should challenge us all. The analysis is meticulously detailed and sourced, building on Brill's long career in investigative journalism. However, Brill shows how groups in America are trying to fight back, in all manner of grassroots ways, making the book also a manifesto for practical change and a rallying cry for everyone who wants to rebuild America.” —Gillian Tett, author of Fool’s Gold and U.S. Managing Editor of The Financial Times

“Steve Brill has built on years of investigative journalism to produce a brilliant and powerful book on the most critical issue of our time: How did America’s core values get hijacked by a privileged class? During the past fifty years, we have undermined our basic national creed that we are a level playing field where any kid has the opportunity to build a better life. This book is not a political or ideological screed. Instead, it’s a model of deep reporting and fact-driven analysis. Everyone, left and right and center, should read it. It will open your eyes and challenge your assumptions.” —Walter Isaacson, author of Leonardo da Vinci

“A compelling, surprising narrative about the unlikely people and forces responsible for the dashing of the American dream—and an uplifting look at those working to restore it.” —Jill Abramson, former executive editor, The New York Times 

From the Publisher

Tailspin distinguishes itself within the America Gone Wrong genre in three important ways. First, it comes to life when Brill focuses on the legal shifts and stalemates that ushered in the country's current predicament, examining how these changes rippled across the rest of society…Second, as the subtitle suggests, Brill leavens the gloom…with vignettes of individuals and organizations working to counteract the overarching negative trendlines…[And] third…is the number of times the phrase "unintended consequences" appears in the book. Many of the legal and regulatory changes that Brill excoriates have counterintuitive beginnings…Brill is a keen observer of well-intentioned ideas, like trade adjustment assistance, executed badly…Still, the interviews with those trying to fight the powers that be make the book a worthy contribution…In a downbeat era, Tailspin offers some modest ammunition for hope.

The New York Times Book Review - Daniel W. Drezner

★ 03/26/2018
A dysfunctional system serving an unaccountable ruling class is wrecking America, according to this searing sociopolitical jeremiad. Journalist and Court TV founder Brill (America’s Bitter Pill) traces a downward spiral of inequality, stagnating wages, expensive and substandard health care and schools, crumbling infrastructure, a “hollow economy” that jettisoned manufacturing in favor of low-paid services and high-paid finance, polarized politics, and a gridlocked Congress that panders to plutocrats and leaves everyone else unprotected. His intelligent, intricate analysis traces these problems to well-intentioned reforms that were turned into institutional “moats” that safeguard elite privilege: universities intending to level inequality ended up entrenching it; “due process” provisions to make federal rule-making fairer were gamed by special interests, from bankers to community groups, to block needed and reasonable government action; First Amendment absolutism regarding campaign finance gave pharmaceutical companies license to defy FDA regulations restricting the marketing of drugs for off-label uses; civil service reform ended corrupt patronage, but made incompetent bureaucrats untouchable; primary elections liberated candidates from party bosses, but enslaved them to zealots and rich donors. Despite his stinging indictment of lawyers, money men, and politicians, Brill still finds worthwhile possibilities everywhere, from innovative job training programs to campaign finance crusades. He brings both detailed reporting and wide-ranging perspective to this insightful account of how America reached its current state. Photos. Agent: David Kuhn, Aevitas Creative Management. (May)

Publishers Weekly

2018-03-20
A broken nation requires crucial changes.For the last 50 years, journalist and political analyst Brill (Journalism/Yale Univ.; America's Bitter Pill: Money, Politics, Back-Room Deals, and the Fight to Fix the Broken Health Care System, 2015, etc.) argues, the United States has been deteriorating. Besides a blighted health care system, the author points to other major problems, including underperforming public schools; outdated mass transit systems and power grids; crumbling bridges, highways, and airports; snowballing income inequality; high infant mortality and low life expectancy when compared with other Western countries; political gridlock; voter cynicism and apathy; and lobbyists' power over elected officials. He blames "the polarization and paralysis of American democracy" partly on a "new aristocracy of rich knowledge workers," high-achieving, well-educated individuals who have gravitated to law and finance, inventing financial instruments and corporate legal defenses that fed greed but "deadened incentives for the long-term development and growth of the rest of the economy." Brill calls these individuals, who want to hold onto their wealth, the "protected," as opposed to the rest of society, "the unprotected," who need government to act for the common good. The author offers ample evidence that American democracy is in peril. Less persuasive is his optimism that problems can be solved through the efforts of earnest, sometimes influential individuals. Dennis Kelleher, for example, is president of a nonprofit organization called Better Markets, whose goal is to monitor and influence the financial industry. Max Stier, president and chief executive of the Partnership for Public Service, lobbies for implementation of policy: "the unglamorous challenges of making government work," which involves training managers, senior civil servants, and deputy secretaries in all cabinet departments. Lawyer Philip Howard is a writer and speaker whose book The Death of Common Sense (1995) became a bestseller. Such individuals' efforts, however inspiring they are, seem hardly enough to lead to massive overhauls of infrastructure (Brill proposes a gas tax for that) or systemic changes in education and health care.A hard-hitting, mostly convincing analysis of endemic problems that will require further intensive study.

Kirkus Reviews