Why has it been so hard for progressive policies to take root in Washington? In the “indispensable, deeply researched, and powerfully argued” Thinking like an Economist: How Efficiency Replaced Equality in U.S. Public Policy, the University of Michigan’s Dr. Elizabeth Popp Berman spells out a key reason: the mid-century turn toward an “economic style of reasoning” that sidelined policymakers’ concerns for fairness, rights, and equality. This kind of thinking — and its centering of efficiency goals — has often served to shrink the horizons of policy reform and undermine progressive aims. That’s now changing.

On Tuesday, July 19 at 8pm ET/5pm PT, please join the American Economic Liberties Project as we talk with Dr. Popp Berman for the second installment of Economic Liberties’ new “Thinking Big” series. We’ll dig into the origins of this economic style of reasoning, its takeover of federal policymaking, and how it can be overcome.

You can purchase Thinking like an Economist: How Efficiency Replaced Equality at your local, independent bookstore here and read more about it in Boston Review.