Preface ix
Introduction 1
Part I The Great Stagnation 29
1 A Brief History of Preindustrial Progress 33
2 Preindustrial Prosperity 60
3 Why Mechanization Failed 72
Part II The Great Divergence 93
4 The Factory Arrives 97
5 The Industrial Revolution and Its Discontents 112
Part III The Great Leveling 141
6 From Mass Production to Mass Flourishing 147
7 The Return of the Machinery Question 174
8 The Triumph of the Middle Class 189
Part IV The Grert Reversal 223
9 The Descent of the Middle Class 227
10 Forging Ahead, Drifting Apart 249
11 The Politics of Polarization 264
Part V The Future 297
12 Artificial Intelligence 301
13 The Road to Riches 342
Acknowledgments 367
Appendix 369
Notes 373
Bibliography 425
Index 453