With today’s publication of This Fight Is Our Fight: The Battle to Save America’s Middle Class, Sen. Elizabeth Warren continues her crusade against greed on behalf of working Americans.
Her latest book chronicles the history of the middle class in the U.S., starting with the New Deal all the way through the Trump administration. Along the way, Warren weaves in stories about her life and the lives of those she has encountered along her journey to Washington as a Democratic senator from Massachusetts.
Warren is already a bestselling author with a number of books under her belt. Here are some of her most successful titles so far.
A chronicle of what motivated her to get involved in politics, Warren’s 2014 memoir recounts her path from her a struggling middle-class family in Oklahoma City all the way through her successful U.S. Senate bid in 2012. As Warren worked her way up through the academic world, ultimately becoming a law professor, she became increasingly distressed with the economic unfairness of the financial system. Her transition from academia to Capitol Hill offered an inside look at how negotiations to fix a broken system actually happen.
All Your Worth: The Ultimate Lifetime Money Plan
Co-authored with Warren’s daughter, Amelia Warren Tyagi, the 2006 personal finance guide runs on the central tenet of getting your money into the proper balance. Warren argues that 50% of your money should go to your needs, such as paying rent and other necessary expenses. Another 30% should be allocated for wants, which is simply spending on things you enjoy. And the last 20% should go into savings.
The Two-Income Trap: Why Middle-Class Parents are Going Broke
This book, again co-authored with her daughter Amelia in 2003, explores how families with two working parents are faring in today’s economic environment. With two breadwinners, the authors argue, those families should be thriving, with tons of extra discretionary spending. But due to the exploding cost of housing and education, many households are in a tighter financial spot than their one-income predecessors of a generation ago. Their solutions to the trap include tighter regulations on predatory mortgage lending and implementing a school voucher system that gives families more latitude in choosing a cheaper place to live while still ensuring a good education for their children.
The Fragile Middle Class: Americans in Debt
This 2000 examination of why bankruptcy disproportionately affects the middle class, co-authored with Teresa A. Sullivan and Jay Westbrook, culls from a survey of more than 2,400 individuals who filed bankruptcy to break down how and why so many people ended up overwhelmingly in debt during a time of economic prosperity. The survey, which included subjects from all walks of life, often found that credit cards were particularly problematic in racking up enormous debts, as were outrageous medical bills and the purchase of houses that were above buyers’ means. Offering a humanized look at a problem often dismissed as an easy way out, the book revealed how agonizing and embarrassing the decision to file for bankruptcy protection actually is.
Chapter 11: Reorganizing American Businesses, The Essentials
Aimed primarily at educating students, Warren’s 2008 book provides a foundational look at the bankruptcy process for businesses. In looking at the process every step of the way, she details why each rule is in place while bringing the subject matter alive enough to keep the reader engaged.
