This book provides a careful historical analysis of the co-evolution of educational attainment and the wage structure in the United States through the twentieth century. The authors propose that the twentieth century was not only the American Century but also the Human Capital Century. That is, the American educational system is what made America the richest nation in the world. Its educational system had always been less elite than that of most European nations. By 1900 the U.S. had begun to educate its masses at the secondary level, not just in the primary schools that had remarkable success in the nineteenth century. The book argues that technological change, education, and inequality have been involved in a kind of race. During the first eight decades of the twentieth century, the increase of educated workers was higher than the demand for them. This had the effect of boosting income for most people and lowering inequality. However, the reverse has been true since about 1980. This educational slow-down was accompanied by rising inequality. The authors discuss the complex reasons for this, and what might be done to ameliorate it.

剋勞迪婭·戈爾丁，芝加哥大學經濟學博士。現為哈佛大學經濟係教授。擔任《經濟學季刊》、《經濟學和統計學評論》和《跨學科史學期刊》等雜誌的編委。曾任1990-1991年度美國經濟學會副主席和1999-2000年度經濟學史學會主席。

勞倫斯·凱茲，麻省理工學院經濟學博士。現為哈佛大學經濟係教授。美國國傢經濟研究局研究員，《經濟學季刊》編委。