Menace of Prosperity: NYC's Struggle for Economic Development 1865-1981

Does a strong economy serve the interests of the few or the many? The policy pendulum has swung in either direction over the long term.

In his new book, The Menace of Prosperity: New York City and the Struggle for Economic Development, 1865-1981, Dr. Daniel Wortel-London, visiting assistant professor at Bard College, explores the debates over economic development strategies that raged in New York City over more than a century. Punctuated by fiscal crises, the history is one of competing claims on city resources, and more keenly, competing ideas of what policies best serve the city and its people.

In support of his work, Wortel-London received funding from the Center for the History of Business, Technology, and Society at the Hagley Museum and Library. 

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