Now this is a good little book about practical economics. It basically discusses the application of the two-engine paradox (the paradox that a aeroplane which has 2 engines, and needs both to fly, is twice as likely to suffer a disasterous engine failure as a plane with one engine) to family budgetting: families which, a generation ago, had only one income, now have two: but, far from making them more ecomonically independent, this has greatly reduced their margin of safety.

The book is entirely about the situation in America, so it's conclusions would undoubtedly be very different for Europe. America is a strange place; what is the point in living in a country with such strong economic growth if none of the benefits go to the average man on the street (inflation-adjusted median wages in America have been virtually static for 33 years).

This book is basically about the US housing boom, and how — far from being underpinned by rising wealth and genuine supply shortages as the UK boom is — this is mainly an artificial situation created by dual incomes and school admissions zoning. The book is clearly advocating a single point of view, and goes out of its way to try and absolve the public of any blame for overspending at all; it's very partisan. But it makes it's case well, the statistics are good, and there are very few books that try to investigate long-term family economic trends in this way.