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Back to To the Point

To the Point

Does the "American Dream" still have a future?

Dr. Martin Luther King famously had a "Dream" — and it's related to the "American Dream," a phrase first used back in 1931. It's when children make better pay, own more property and enjoy life's comforts more than their parents. Now, the "American Dream" can actually be measured. The numbers are not encouraging.

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By Warren Olney • Jan 12, 2017 • 1 min read

Dr. Martin Luther King famously had a "Dream" — and it's related to the "American Dream," a phrase first used back in 1931. It's when children make better pay, own more property and enjoy life's comforts more than their parents. Now, the "American Dream" can actually be measured. The numbers are not encouraging. The odds for children exceeding their parents' standard of living have dropped like a stone for the poor and the Middle Class. And the concentration of wealth has increased by orders of magnitude. On this MLK Day we hear what that means for the "American Dream."

  • https://images.ctfassets.net/2658fe8gbo8o/AvYox6VuEgcxpd20Xo9d3/769bca4fbf97bf022190f4813812c1e2/new-default.jpg?h=250

    Warren Olney

    former KCRW broadcaster

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    Evan George

    Director of Content, News

  • KCRW placeholder

    David French

    Columnist, The Dispatch and Time magazine

  • KCRW placeholder

    Jonna Ivin

    novelist and playwright

  • KCRW placeholder

    David Leonhardt

    New York Times

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