According to the author, a Harvard economist, "we are going through a historic transformation that is rearranging
the politics and economics of the 1990s and the 21st century.Economies are no longer simply national in scope but
global, rewarding the most skilled around the world with ever greater wealth while consigning the less skilled
to declining standards of living.He sees the global work forces as already divided into three groups: routine producers
(e.g., data processors), in-person servers (e.g., librarians), and symbolicanalysts who manipulate symbols for
large profits (e.g., financial wizards).In 1989, these analysts comprised about one-fifth of the population of
the United States, but they earned more than half the income.As the rich get richer and the rest get poorer, Reich
urges a national recommitment to the productivity and competitiveness of all citizens."(Libr J)