Losing Ground

American Social Policy, 1950 - 1980

By: Charles Murray

Narrated by: Robert Morris

Length: 9 hrs and 26 mins

Publisher's summary

Beginning in the 1950s, America entered a period of unprecedented social reform. This remarkable book demonstrates how the social programs of the 1960s and ’70s had the unintended and perverse effect of slowing and even reversing earlier progress in reducing poverty, crime, ignorance, and discrimination. Using widely understood and accepted data, it conclusively demonstrates that the amalgam of reforms from 1965 to 1970 actually made matters worse.

Why? Charles Murray’s tough-minded answers to this question will please neither radical liberals nor radical conservatives. He offers no easy solutions, but by forcing us to face fundamental intellectual and moral problems about whom we want to help and how, Losing Ground marks an important first step in rethinking social policy.

Charles Murray is the W. H. Brady Scholar at the American Enterprise Institute. He first came to national attention in 1984 with Losing Ground. He received a bachelor’s degree in history from Harvard and a doctorate in political science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He lives with his wife in Burkittsville, Maryland.

©1984 Charles Murray (P)1989 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

"Without bile and without rhetoric it lays out a stark truth that must be faced." ( Business Week)

"A great book." ( Wall Street Journal)

“A remarkable book. Future discussions of social policy cannot proceed without taking the arguments and evidence of this book into account.” (James S. Coleman, University of Chicago)

Excellent

This book was excellent. It is worth reading with an open mind. It’s a shame that it is unlikely to get a fair account.

still relevant

although this is a somewhat older examination of the welfare state in the United States, it still offers cutting analysis that is still relevant to this day.

Very informative

Narrator was sometimes hard to follow had to turn up the volume on headphones

Very interesting book and relevant in 2021

Thoroughly researched, this is a great explanation of what Murray sees as the reasons for the outcomes of low income Americans. Worth a read.

Rethinking my views

Would you listen to Losing Ground again? Why?

Yes, I would like to commit to memory many of the analyses and figures.

Any additional comments?

This is a compelling argument to rethink our entire social policy system. I have been casting about for fixes all my life and failed to understand the fundamental assumptions underlying our treatment of the poor and how insidious they have been.

Eye opening!

This finally answers for me all the questions I’ve had about human behavior for different classes. He uses a scientific approach to break down all the possibilities of what could cause the different effects. Extremely well done. I would love to see him update this for the present time using more recent trends. It’s a bit hard to understand at times as his voice cuts out.

Uncomfortable ideas well articulated

I read this book and realized if the dates were changed to the 2020s, it would still make sense as many of the points of contention are the same today.

History doesn’t rhyme but it does repeat.

The book is informative, data-driven and although the author has been cancelled for his other work, if you separate the message from the messenger, this is an interesting and compelling read that highlights the inefficacy and corruption of our government programs and how misaligned they are to human nature.

hate facts

this book is so full of hate-facts, gavin mcinnis probably sleeps with a copy under his pillow.

explains both Ron Reagan and Bill Clinton

Impressive data-driven analysis of economic policy. Would make a good addition to a standard high school Economics curriculum. And, a great model of balanced exposition: the author often writes, "I believe ABC, but not everyone agrees; for the opposite view, read X book."

Data Driven Truths

Another show stopper with mouths wide open as Charles leads the way to adjust, fix, YES restore the American dream for ALL people as they work for individual liberty not handed over welfare checks to the demanding indignant welfare state. Keep the facts rolling in Mr. Murray. A mandated reading for all politicians and govt workers.