Examines the interrelations of politics and society, bringing together articles from an interdisciplinary community of scholars.

Introduction - because that's where the money is, Richard E. Ratcliff et al. Part 1: negative consequences to the rise of income inequality, Denny Brown; the rich get increasingly richer - latest data on household wealth during the 1980s, Edward N. Wolff; them that's got shall get - inheritance and achievement in wealth accumulation, Melvin L. Oliver et al. Part 2: savings and the decline of entrepreneurship, Richard E. Ratcliff and Suzanne Maurer; conservative policy-making and growing urban inequality in the 1980s, David M. Grant amd James H. Johnson, Jr; children in poverty - lessons from the economy and public policies, Sheldon Danziger and Glenn Beamer; the war against welfare moves to the States, Nancy Kleniewski; the (un)importance of work for women's poverty for women of colour, Lisa Catanzarite and Vilma Ortiz. Part 3: assets and the welfare state - policies, proposals, politics and research, Michael Sherraden et al; the politics of income redistribution, S.M. Miller and Jacqueline Ortiz.