Includes index.

The state of the Union moment / James Fallows -- The American paradox / Ted Halstead -- Broadening the middle class -- Are we still a middle-class nation? / Michael Lind -- One-dimensional growth / David Friedman -- Spendthrift nation / Michael Calabrese and Maya MacGuineas -- Americas "Suez moment" / Sherle R. Schwenninger -- Rethinking taxes and governance -- Radical tax reform / Maya MacGuineas -- Up in the air / Michael Calabrese and J.H. Snider -- Taking stock / Jonathan Rauch -- The fuel subsidy we need / Ricardo Bayon -- Helping American families -- The insecure family / Jacob S. Hacker -- The parent trap / Karen Kornbluh -- The $6,000 solution / Ray Boshara -- The black gender gap / Katherine Boo -- Reinventing education -- A grand compromise / James P. Pinkerton -- A new deal for teachers / Matthew Miller -- The tuition crunch / Jennifer Washburn -- A new health care paradigm -- The overtreated American / Shannon Brownlee -- Insurance required / Laurie Rubiner -- Aging productively / Phillip F. Longman -- America's changing demographic landscape -- The new continental divide / Michael Lind -- Mongrel America / Gregory Rodriguez -- Alienated muslims / Geneive Abdo -- Testing our civic health -- The angry American / Paul Starobin -- Suspicious minds / Jedediah Purdy -- Overflowing jails / Margaret Talbot -- America and the world -- Beyond dominance / Sherle R. Schwenninger -- Opportunity missed / Michael Lind -- The population implosion / Phillip F. Longman -- Democracy in the Islamic world / Noah Feldman -- Nation building 101 / Francis Fukuyama -- Conclusion -- Dysfunctional duopoly / Ted Halstead.