Whilst working as Chairperson in a university department of Economics, celebrated feminist Nancy Folbre saw first-hand how cut backs severely affected the quality of education and services available to students. In an incisive study, she explains how public education fits into the economy at large. As America faces a transition in administration, and a change in policies on public spending, this well-informed call to action provides a much needed perspective on public education.

Author Biography

Nancy Folbre, a MacArthur Fellow, is professor emerita of economics at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. She is the the author of The Invisible Heart: Economics and Family Values and Saving State U: Why We Must Fix Public Higher Education; a co-author, with Jonathan Teller-Elsberg, James Heintz, and the Center for Popular Economics, of Field Guide to the U.S. Economy; and a co-author, with Randy Albelda, of The War on the Poor: A Defense Manual, all published by The New Press. Her academic books include For Love and Money: Care Provision in the U.S. and Greed, Lust, and Gender: A History of Economic Ideas. She is a regular contributor to the New York Times's Economix blog.