The Guarantee - by Natalie Foster (Hardcover)

About the Book

Book Synopsis

With a foreword by Angela Garbes

From the president of the Economic Security Project, a book that shows how a just future is around the corner, if we are ready to seize it

The Guarantee asks us to imagine an America where housing, health care, a college education, dignified work, family care, an inheritance, and an income floor are not only attainable by all but guaranteed, by our government, for everyone.

But isn't this pie-in-the-sky thinking? Not by a long shot, as this provocative new book reveals. As it stands, our current economic system is chock full of government-backed guarantees, from bailouts to bankruptcy protection, to keep the private sector in business. So why can't the same be true for the rest of us?

Author Natalie Foster, co-founder of the Economic Security Project, has had a front-row seat to the dramatic leaps forward in government guarantees over the past decade, from student debt relief to the child tax credit expansion. Her brilliantly sketched vision for a new Guarantee Framework is rooted in real life experiences, collaborations with some of today's most important activists and visionaries, and a concrete sense of the policies that are possible-and ready to implement--in twenty-first-century America.

The Guarantee is the rare book that will shift the terms of debate, moving us from the expired and defunct assumptions of no-guardrails capitalism to a nation that works for all of its people.

Review Quotes

Praise for The Guarantee:

"The Guarantee: Inside the Fight for America's Next Economy asks readers to consider what true freedom might look like . . . [and] makes a strong case for guarantees in American life. . . . An especially important book."
-Shelf Awareness

"Perpetrated by those in power, there is a myth that anyone can make it if they work hard enough and play by the rules; that public help is unimportant or not needed. The Guarantee breaks down this myth and weaves a clear picture of what's possible when we push our government to do more for the American people. Pointing to concrete examples of big moves and small shifts, Foster crafts a gripping activist history of the last two decades that leaves you feeling optimistic about what we can accomplish together."
--Robert Reich, former U.S. Secretary of Labor

"A timely and persuasive exploration into what is truly possible when we guarantee economic rights and prosperity for all."
--Heather McGhee, author of the New York Times bestseller The Sum of Us

"Natalie Foster takes you on a journey that will forever change the way you view our country. With a bold vision, she intertwines the economy, business, public policy, social justice, and advocacy. A must-read for all."
--Van Jones, CNN correspondent and New York Times bestselling author of The Green Collar Economy

"The Guarantee chronicles how radical, righteous ideas move into the mainstream; it reminds us that we have the power to transform our political and lived reality."
--Mia Birdsong, author of How We Show Up and founder of Next River

"The Guarantee inspires us to think about our political economy in a fundamentally moral way. In a time of profound anxiety and confusion, Natalie tells the inspiring, human stories of the people on the front lines fighting for society where everyone has enough to thrive and flourish."
--Chris Hughes, Facebook co-founder and author of Fair Shot

"Across the pages of The Guarantee Natalie blends brilliance, warmth, and fierce focus to instill an optimistic confidence that America can choose a better path towards economic and racial justice. The world needs The Guarantee."
--Darrick Hamilton, director of the Institute on Race, Power and Political Economy at The New School

"The Guarantee is an important work--not only how it advances care as an economic right, but for how clearly it articulates the solutions in our midst."
--Ai-jen Poo, president of National Domestic Workers Alliance and author The Age of Dignity

"This book's meticulous history of progress in human rights made over the last decade is inspirational. As Natalie Foster makes clear, heroic work by people all over this country has combined to set the stage for establishing a decent society at last. If we push hard now, a much more just and productive society is within our grasp. It can't come soon enough, and this book shows how we'll get there."
--Kim Stanley Robinson, Hugo Award-winning author of The Ministry for the Future

"The Guarantee helps those of us outside the political melee make sense of where we

About the Author

Natalie Foster is a leading architect of the movement to build an inclusive and resilient economy. She is the president and co-founder of Economic Security Project and an Aspen Institute Fellow, and her work and writing has appeared in the New York Times, USA Today, Time, Business Insider, CNN, and The Guardian. Natalie speaks regularly on economic security, the future of work, and the new political economy. An unstoppable builder, Natalie previously founded the sharing economy community Peers and co-founded Rebuild the Dream with Van Jones, and served as Digital Director for President Obama's Organizing for America--a leading partner in winning transformative healthcare reform. A daughter of a preacher from Kansas, Natalie draws on the values of community, dignity, and optimism to build a better America. The Guarantee: Inside the Fight for America's Next Economy (The New Press) is her first book. She lives in Oakland, California, with her husband and two kids.