List Price: $28.99
Save: $12.18 (42%)

In Stock.

Ships from and sold by Amazon.com. Gift-wrap available.

Turn on 1-Click ordering for this browser

This item ships to France. Want it Monday, July 9? Choose AmazonGlobal Priority Shipping at checkout. Learn more

Select delivery location

Buy Used

$11.12

FREE Shipping on orders over $25.

Select delivery location

Used: Good | Details

Sold by LuxuryMerchandise (Veteran Owned)

Fulfilled by Amazon

Turn on 1-Click ordering for this browser

Added to

Unable to add item to List. Please try again.

Other Sellers on Amazon

Add to Cart

$9.48

Sold by: Park City Bargain Books

Add to Cart

$10.40

Sold by: Mandors Marvelous Treasures

Add to Cart

$17.07
+ $30.28 shipping

Sold by: indoobestsellers

Have one to sell? Sell on Amazon

Flip to back Flip to front

Listen Playing... Paused You're listening to a sample of the Audible audio edition.
Learn more

See all 2 images

The Complacent Class: The Self-Defeating Quest for the American Dream Hardcover – February 28, 2017

by Tyler Cowen (Author)

78 customer reviews

See all 4 formats and editions Hide other formats and editions

Price

New from

Used from

Kindle

"Please retry"

$10.50

—

Hardcover

"Please retry"

$16.81

$9.48

$3.58

Paperback

"Please retry"

$17.00

$10.28

$10.27

Audible, Unabridged

"Please retry"

$0.00

Free with your Audible trial

A Wall Street Journal and Washington Post Bestseller

"Tyler Cowen's blog, Marginal Revolution, is the first thing I read every morning. And his brilliant new book, The Complacent Class, has been on my nightstand after I devoured it in one sitting. I am at round-the-clock Cowen saturation right now."--Malcolm Gladwell

Since Alexis de Tocqueville, restlessness has been accepted as a signature American trait. Our willingness to move, take risks, and adapt to change have produced a dynamic economy and a tradition of innovation from Ben Franklin to Steve Jobs.

The problem, according to legendary blogger, economist and best selling author Tyler Cowen, is that Americans today have broken from this tradition―we’re working harder than ever to avoid change. We're moving residences less, marrying people more like ourselves and choosing our music and our mates based on algorithms that wall us off from anything that might be too new or too different. Match.com matches us in love. Spotify and Pandora match us in music. Facebook matches us to just about everything else.

Of course, this “matching culture” brings tremendous positives: music we like, partners who make us happy, neighbors who want the same things. We’re more comfortable. But, according to Cowen, there are significant collateral downsides attending this comfort, among them heightened inequality and segregation and decreased incentives to innovate and create.

The Complacent Class argues that this cannot go on forever. We are postponing change, due to our near-sightedness and extreme desire for comfort, but ultimately this will make change, when it comes, harder. The forces unleashed by the Great Stagnation will eventually lead to a major fiscal and budgetary crisis: impossibly expensive rentals for our most attractive cities, worsening of residential segregation, and a decline in our work ethic. The only way to avoid this difficult future is for Americans to force themselves out of their comfortable slumber―to embrace their restless tradition again.

Frequently bought together

Total price: $30.87

Buy the selected items together

This item:The Complacent Class: The Self-Defeating Quest for the American Dream by Tyler Cowen Hardcover $16.81
In Stock.
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
FREE Shipping on orders over $25. Details
Average Is Over: Powering America Beyond the Age of the Great Stagnation by Tyler Cowen Paperback $14.06
In Stock.
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
FREE Shipping on orders over $25. Details

Customers who bought this item also bought

Page 1 of 1 Start overPage 1 of 1

This shopping feature will continue to load items. In order to navigate out of this carousel please use your heading shortcut key to navigate to the next or previous heading.

Tyler Cowen

164

Paperback
$14.06
Tyler Cowen

120

Hardcover
63 offers from $1.99
Paul Oyer

38

Hardcover
$19.48
Tyler Cowen

164

Hardcover
$13.25
Thomas M. Nichols

269

Hardcover
$17.30
Richard V. Reeves

123

Hardcover
$17.99

Special offers and product promotions

Editorial Reviews

Review

“[The Complacent Class] provides an open invitation for the reader to think deeply.” ―Derek Thompson, The Atlantic

“‘The Complacent Class' is refreshingly nonideological, filled with observations that will resonate with conservatives, liberals and libertarians. ... a useful corrective to the conventional wisdom that American ingenuity, sooner or later, will revive a low-growth economy.” ―The Wall Street Journal

“One of the most important reads of the new year.” ―National Review

"Tyler Cowen is an international treasure. Endlessly inventive and uniquely wide-ranging, he has produced a novel account of what ails us: undue complacency. No one but Cowen would ask, 'Why Americans stopped rioting and instead legalized marijuana.' He admires risk-taking, and he likes restlessness, and he thinks the United States needs lots more of both. Don't be complacent: Read this book!"--Cass R. Sunstein, Harvard University, and author of #Republic: Divided Democracy in the Age of Social Media

"A book that will undoubtedly stir discussion"--Kirkus

Praise for The Great Stagnation:

"Cowen’s book… will have a profound impact on the way people think about the last thirty years."―Ryan Avent, Economist.com

"Tyler Cowen may very well turn out to be this decade's Thomas Friedman."--Kelly Evans, The Wall Street Journal

About the Author

TYLER COWEN (Ph.D.) holds the Holbert L. Harris chair in economics at George Mason University. He is the author of a number of explanatory and text books, including The Complacent Class, as well as writing the most read economics blog worldwide, marginalrevolution.com. He has written regularly for The New York Times and contributes to a wide number of newspapers and periodicals.

Hardcover: 256 pages
Publisher: St. Martin's Press; 1st Edition edition (February 28, 2017)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1250108691
ISBN-13: 978-1250108692
Product Dimensions: 6.4 x 0.9 x 9.5 inches
Shipping Weight: 14.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 78 customer reviews
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #47,745 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #120 in Books > Politics & Social Sciences > Sociology > Class
- #143 in Books > Business & Money > Biography & History > Economic History
- #150 in Books > Business & Money > Economics > Economic Conditions

Would you like to tell us about a lower price?
If you are a seller for this product, would you like to suggest updates through seller support?

NO_CONTENT_IN_FEATURE

Related media

Try the Kindle edition and experience these great reading features:

See Kindle Edition

Customer Reviews

Write a customer review

See all 78 customer reviews

Rated by customers interested in

Politics

3.6 out of 5 stars

Novels

3.6 out of 5 stars

Is this feature helpful?

Thank you for your feedback.

Read reviews that mention

Top customer reviews

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

Randall Parker

Many thought-provoking ideas

July 2, 2017

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

I am quite surprised (pleasantly so) by some of the ways Tyler Cowen's thinking has developed. This latest book shows a greater amount of intellectual intellectual development than his previous The Great Stagnation. Most pleasing to me was his embrace of cyclical views of history in his final chapter. Though I would like to have seen an appreciation on his part for Peter Turchin's books on patterns in history.

Tyler thinks we're too complacent and too sheltered in our cocoons. He thinks our society is becoming too averse to change. This shows up as NIMBY zoning ordinances, few job switches, less entrepreneurship, and greater willingness to accept the established order. Safe spaces at colleges can be seen as a manifestation of this phenomenon.

As complementary reading for this book I would recommend Peter Turchin's War & Peace & War as an excellent intro to recurring patterns in history. I would also recommend Bill Bishop's The Big Sort about how Americans are migrating to live near people who think like them and live like them.

Cowen does a fairly good job of bringing up many contemporary political issues while not betraying a strong partisan bias. Though it's clear he's trying to pitch his ideas more to appeal to a left-leaning readership. At points his own willingness to stay within the boundaries of politically correct thought places limits on his ability to find and explain patterns. But keep reading through those sections. He gets back to very worthwhile insights in later sections.

What disturbs me about this book is that Tyler has reached a number of conclusions similar to mine about cyclical history but by his own different intellectual path. This unfortunately increases my own assessment of the odds that I'm right to expect a bumpier and possibly much more tragic future.

2 people found this helpful

Helpful

Not Helpful

Comment

John T. Landry

Good overall argument, but thin and pessimistic

May 19, 2017

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

I came to this book with high expectations after reading Average is Over, but as others have said, this one covers a lot of ground and doesn't have the depth of argument or authority. I would have preferred a book that focused on complacency in the economy and tackled the big question now: will the new wave of technology (AI, 3D printing, internet-of-things, extreme mobility) end our decline in productivity growth, in business investment, and in competition? It could have still had a chapter on how these technologies might have wide social ramifications, as a kind of updating of Average is Over.
That said, the book is a useful collection of a lot of interesting trends, especially on declining mobility. And the overall argument is very important -- speaking as someone in the business world where there's still too much talk about the supposed extreme dynamism of the internet age.
I also found the book unnecessarily pessimistic. It's almost as though the author thinks complacency is bad in itself, so he wants to scare us into thinking terrible things are on the horizon. Most of the book is about good news -- we're complacent for a reason -- but the book keeps trying to suggest a dark side. Surely there is a dark side to all these developments (and the opioid etc crisis is a real problem), but we've handled far worse and still achieved a society that's amazingly better than what we had in previous centuries on just about every dimension. The very end of the book briefly takes up Stephen Pinker's Better Angels book, but doesn't take that powerful argument for social progress seriously. There's also no mention of Gregory Clark's Farewell to Alms, which makes a similar if less obvious argument about economics.
The book almost bizarrely suggests that the current violence in the Middle East and Ukraine is strong evidence of cyclicality in world affairs, not progress -- and cites the ancient Greek view that true progress is an illusion. I think what the book really means is that progress is often a matter of two steps forward and one step back, and we might be in for an extended period of stepping back.
Finally, the book has almost nothing to say about how we might be developing new kinds of restlessness that might be more positive, less disruptive than the restlessness it predicts. It doesn't look at how people have been exploring all sorts of new dimensions in culture and religion -- all of which makes sense simply on Maslow's hierarchy of needs. Affluence really does change how we deal with the world.

10 people found this helpful

Helpful

Not Helpful

Comment

A. T. Yoshida

A Lot of Interesting Thoughts

April 23, 2017

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

Cowen's work here is engaging and interesting. The challenge is that there are a lot of questions raised here that don't have good answers or, in many cases, answers at all. For example, the social and economic effects of sorting - in all sorts of areas of life - present a clear challenge to many democratic ideals, but it isn't at all clear that there is much to do except buckle in and enjoy the ride.

7 people found this helpful

Comment

April 28, 2017

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

All over the place not focused enough. but raised some interesting ideas.

5 people found this helpful

Comment

April 3, 2018

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

Anouither enjoyable read. Of the contemporary involvement of things.

Helpful

Not Helpful

Comment

William Bishop

Tyler Cowen is one of my favorite economics bloggers

January 27, 2018

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

Interesting thesis, but not a page-turner. I found it hard to keep going after the first few chapters. Tyler Cowen is one of my favorite economics bloggers, but I'm not sure that his writing style is well adapted to a full length book, and some of his evidence for a "complacent" culture seems a little bit contrived.

Helpful

Not Helpful

Comment

Max

Thought-provoking and troubling

May 7, 2017

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

Tyler Cowan amalgamates disparate and even contradictory observations into a compelling narrative about the complacency of elites. You probably won't agree with every point he makes, but the total effect is hard to dismiss.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Not Helpful

Comment

Econ Student 4

Cowen makes you wrestle with his thesis

January 15, 2018

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

Solid book that makes you think about global history and our current place within that history. Recommended- Cowen is nearly always great and always gets you thinking.

Helpful

Not Helpful

Comment

Most recent customer reviews

ben

at best. Would not recommend

Tyler Cowen was too complacent with the first draft of this book. Even if Cowen comes up with an interesting hypothesis here and there - he usually doesnt -- the arguments lack...Read more

Published 3 months ago

Michael Tapp

Yep.

In this book the author tries to explain the almost unexplainable: Where is America today and where is it heading?Read more

Published 3 months ago

Cheung Yuk Ming

The internet technology is creating million of citizen groups in ...

The internet technology is creating million of citizen groups in the society who only interact with those who share a few websites and chat groups.Read more

Published 3 months ago

Robert c.

American Democracy is a Team Sport

Cowen's detailed knowledge and anecdodal stories. Well sourced and documented.

Published 5 months ago

Bradley Bevers

One of the best

Vine Customer Review of Free Product

One of the best books I have read in past couple years. Cowen is one of the smartest people making predictions right now, and what he says is worth listening to.Read more

Published 8 months ago

AFOR

One Star

Boring and repetitive, it talked many times about the same idea.

Published 9 months ago

Thomas K. Seibold

Insights and blind spots

I enjoyed the author's delineation of various historical and societal societal trends, but overall I found this an odd and ultimately unfocused little book.Read more

Published 9 months ago

Fenton Angell

Some reasonable thoughts.

Made some good points but left you with a OK now what feeling.

Published 9 months ago

H. D. Prescott, Jr.

Five Stars

To support the curriculum

Published 10 months ago

Hmiller6181

Five Stars

Fantastic book; a must read for everyone.

Published 10 months ago

Set up an Amazon Giveaway

Amazon Giveaway allows you to run promotional giveaways in order to create buzz, reward your audience, and attract new followers and customers. Learn more about Amazon Giveaway

This item: The Complacent Class: The Self-Defeating Quest for the American Dream

Set up a giveaway

Customers who viewed this item also viewed

Page 1 of 1 Start overPage 1 of 1

This shopping feature will continue to load items. In order to navigate out of this carousel please use your heading shortcut key to navigate to the next or previous heading.

Tyler Cowen

164

Paperback
$14.06
Tyler Cowen

120

Hardcover
63 offers from $1.99
Paul Oyer

38

Hardcover
$19.48
Bruno Macaes
Hardcover
$18.54
Tyler Cowen

32

Hardcover
$24.86
Roger L. Martin

56

Hardcover
$18.90

Pages with related products. See and discover other items: history of social classes, business economics, business english, business history, creative business, social history 2017

Buy New

$16.81

Turn on 1-Click ordering for this browser

Buy Used

$11.12

Turn on 1-Click ordering for this browser

Other Sellers on Amazon

The Complacent Class: The Self-Defeating Quest for the American Dream Hardcover – February 28, 2017

Frequently bought together

Customers who bought this item also bought

Sponsored products related to this item (What's this?)

Special offers and product promotions

Editorial Reviews

Review

About the Author

Product details

Related media

The Complacent Class: The Self-Defeating Quest for the American Dream

Sponsored products related to this item (What's this?)

Try the Kindle edition and experience these great reading features:

Customer Reviews

Read reviews that mention

Top customer reviews

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

Most recent customer reviews

Set up an Amazon Giveaway

Customers who viewed this item also viewed

Buy New $16.81

Turn on 1-Click ordering for this browser

Buy Used $11.12

Turn on 1-Click ordering for this browser

Sorry, there was a problem.

Sorry, there was a problem.

Other Sellers on Amazon

The Complacent Class: The Self-Defeating Quest for the American Dream Hardcover – February 28, 2017

Frequently bought together

Customers who bought this item also bought

Sponsored products related to this item (What's this?)

Special offers and product promotions

Editorial Reviews

Review

About the Author

Product details

Related media

Related Video Shorts

Sponsored products related to this item (What's this?)

Try the Kindle edition and experience these great reading features:

Customer Reviews

Read reviews that mention

Top customer reviews

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

Most recent customer reviews

Set up an Amazon Giveaway

Customers who viewed this item also viewed

Buy New

$16.81

Buy Used

$11.12