Table of Contents

Preface to the 2013 Edition Preface to the 2007 Edition 1. Introduction 2. Recent Changes in Income and Wealth Inequality 3. Inequality, Happiness, and Health 4. Envy or Context? 5. The Rising Cost of Adequate 6. Why Do We Care about Rank? 7. What Types of Consumption Are Most Sensitive to Context? 8. How Can Middle-Class Families Afford to Keep Up? 9. Smart for One, Dumb for All 10. Looking Ahead 11. Lessons for Public Policy 12. Reflections Notes References Index

About the Author

Robert H. Frank is an economics professor in the Johnson Graduate School of Management at Cornell University, Distinguished Senior Fellow at Demos: A Network for Ideas and Action, and a columnist for The New York Times. His books include The Winner Take-All Society (with Philip J. Cook), Luxury Fever, Choosing the Right Pond, Passions Within Reason, and Principles of Economics (with Ben S. Bernanke).

Reviews

"A compact example of a professional economist brilliantly deploying the tools of social science to illuminate the human condition.”
*New York Times*

"This is an excellent book, written in an easy, understandable manner, alive with important examples of how our society spends its money and who are the winners and losers."
*Booklist*

“Falling Behind is a short book in pages, but not in insight or wisdom. If you have not read a previous Frank book, now is the time.”
*BeyondChron*