"Capitalism is failing us. Instead of bringing a decent life for the majority, it generates an outrageous gap between the rich and the rest: unaffordable housing, a profit-driven healthcare system, skyrocketing educational debt, racial and gender inequality, and the threat of climate disaster. Economist David Kotz argues that it's time we built a new socialism for the twenty-first century. The problems of capitalism are too profound for reform, Kotz writes. Reform can help, but only temporarily, and not for all. Nor can we turn back to the socialist experiments of the twentieth century. We can, however, learn from those experiments, both their successes and failures, to build a democratic and participatory economic and political system. The result would be a sustainable future of economic justice, equality, material comfort, human development, and meaningful freedom. The journey may be difficult. But, as Kotz shows in his clear and rigorous account, socialism can be made to work, and he provides a realistic strategy for how to get there. This is the book we need to help us escape the cruelties of our present." -- back cover.