Peter Gosselin

This is a pretty scary book, with a lot of ideas that it would behoove the new administration to look at. The author's thesis is that, in spite of the prosperity of the past 20 years and the lessened likelihood of unemployment, the risks most people run (reduced income, catastrophic medical bills, insurance problems, pension problems, etc) have actually increased. A lot of Gosselin's examples were familiar stories, but the chapter on homeowner's insurance was a definite eye-opener for me. Not the most fun read you'll ever have, and lots of statistics, but frequent case studies add interest. Recommended.… (more)

Illustrates the fine line between apparent financial security and ruin. Documents the exit of business and even the Federal and State governments from providing a financial and medical safety net to families facing financial and/or medical ruin. A condemnation of the "ownership" society. Illustrates the pitfalls of the "two income" family--the income is really one, and it is cut in half when the two-worker arrangement is endangered or destroyed by illness, divorce, childbirth (all common family upheavals) or unemployment. See also the comments about this book voiced in NYRB Fall 2008.… (more)