November 13, 2023 David Leonhardt

Evening Lecture  
Ours Was the Shining Future: The Rise and Fall of the American Dream

David Leonhardt, The New York Times and Pulitzer Prize Winner 

6 PM lecture followed by Q&A and book-signing
McCord Auditorium 3rd floor Dallas Hall, 3225 University Blvd., SMU
Co-sponsored with SMU's Center for Presidential History with support from SMU's Cox School of Business, Office of Office of Diversity and Inclusion, and the Dedman College Interdisciplinary Institute.

The clear-eyed, definitive history of the modern American economy and the decline of the American Dream, from the Pulitzer Prize–winning columnist behind The New York Times’s “The Morning” newsletter.

Two decades into the twenty-first century, the stagnation of living standards has become the defining trend of American life. Life expectancy has declined, economic inequality has soared, and, after some progress, the Black-white wage gap is once again as large as it was in the 1950s. How did this happen in the world’s most powerful country? And what happened to the “American dream”—the promise of a happier, healthier, more prosperous future—which was once such an inextricable part of our national identity?
Drawing on decades of writing about the economy for The New York Times, Pulitzer Prize–winning writer David Leonhardt examines the past century of American history, from the Great Depression to today’s Great Stagnation, in search of an answer in Ours Was a the Shining Future: The Rise and Fall of the American Dream (Random House, 2023).

Registrations are not open.  Please come back. Questions? Email swcenter@smu.edu. 

See SMU Covid response https://www.smu.edu/Coronavirus.

Maps and directions to SMU.