The Guarantee

Inside the Fight for America’s Next Economy

From the president of the Economic Security Project, a book that shows how a just future is around the corner, if we are ready to seize it

“Natalie Foster takes you on a journey that will forever change the way you view our country. With a bold vision, she intertwines the economy, business, public policy, social justice, and advocacy. A must-read for all.”
—Van Jones

The Guarantee asks us to imagine an America where housing, health care, a college education, dignified work, family care, an inheritance, and an income floor are not only attainable by all but guaranteed, by our government, for everyone.

But isn’t this pie-in-the-sky thinking? Not by a long shot, as this provocative new book reveals. As it stands, our current economic system is chock full of government-backed guarantees, from bailouts to bankruptcy protection, to keep the private sector in business. So why can’t the same be true for the rest of us?

Author Natalie Foster, co-founder (with Dorian Warren and Facebook’s Chris Hughes) of the Economic Security Project, has had a front-row seat to the dramatic leaps forward in government guarantees over the past decade, from student debt relief to the child tax credit expansion. Her brilliantly sketched vision for a new American Guarantee is rooted in real life experiences, collaborations with some of today’s most important activists and visionaries, and a concrete sense of the policies that are possible—and ready to implement—in twenty-first-century America.

The Guarantee is the rare book that will shift the terms of debate, moving us from the expired and defunct assumptions of no-guardrails capitalism to a nation that works for all of its people.

Praise

“Perpetrated by those in power, there is a myth that anyone can make it if they work hard enough and play by the rules; that public help is unimportant or not needed. The Guarantee breaks down this myth and weaves a clear picture of what’s possible when we push our government to do more for the American people. Pointing to concrete examples of big moves and small shifts, Foster crafts a gripping activist history of the last two decades that leaves you feeling optimistic about what we can accomplish together.”
—Robert Reich, former U.S. Secretary of Labor

Goodreads Reviews