Giving kids a fair chance, edited by James J Heckman; Boston review Books; $12.17 (hard cover)

Abstract

This book which begins with an essay by the Nobel Prize winning economist brings out the point that the accident of birth is the greatest factor in social inequality. His essay is based on the premise that children who are born into socially, culturally or educationally disadvantaged families seem to exacerbate those disadvantages: by the time they begin school at the kindergarten level, the stage is already set for future problems such as dropping out, teenage pregnancy, crime and a lifetime of low wages and dead end jobs. Heckman points out that this is a serious setback for American society