Are American living standards in decline?

David Leonhardt of the New York Times and John Early of the Cato Institute debate the resolution, "The stagnation of living standards and soaring economic inequality have become the defining economic trends of American life."


For the affirmative is Leonhardt, a senior writer at The New York Times and the author of Ours Was the Shining Future: The Story of American Dream, which The Atlantic, the Financial Times, and McKinsey & Co. named one of the best books of 2023. He writes The Morning, The Times's flagship newsletter. In 2012 he won a Pulitzer Prize for commentary.

Early is taking the negative. He is an adjunct scholar at the Cato Institute and president of the consultancy Vital Few LLC. He is a former assistant commissioner at the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and former legislative assistant to Senator George McGovern. His more than 80 publications include The Myth of American Inequality: How Government Biases Policy Debate.

The debate is moderated by Soho Forum director Gene Epstein.