ABSTRACT
Jesse became the best all round athlete in school and president of the student council, afterwards attending college on a scholarship. Despite the endemic racism in 1950s small town America, he went from manual worker’s son to graduate professional. Rich or poor, black or white, they succeeded in life, moving up the ladder, sometimes from humble origins, so realizing the American dream. The great divide began to open up in the 1980s when American cities were increasingly defined by the level of education of their residents. Although manufacturing suffered a haemorrhage of employment, it saw a growth in value added, retaining the more advanced activities and thus the highest income jobs. Politicians feared that mentioning inequality and redistribution would lose them votes in the centre ground. Robert Gordon puts the ever-slowing growth rate down to a slowing rate of invention and innovation in new products and services.
