Part I first describes two related paradoxes of American life to which the opening days of the 21st century were witness. One: hunger amidst prosperity, a monumental and growing wealth gap, and record-high employment while millions of workers struggled to make ends meet. The other: a sense of excitement and anticipation about the possibilities opened up by dramatically changed and still rapidly evolving economic and social realities, accompanied by fear and unease about the ability of many ? not only those who are now poor or go hungry ? to successfully navigate those changes. Part I takes note of a corresponding ambivalence among the American electorate who sense a need for, and seek inspiration from, a new, compelling policy vision but are largely reliant on an old and less suitable one, as well as among political leaders whose discourse too often appeals to outdated nostrums from across the ideological spectrum. This unsettling and unsettled domestic policy environment challenges us to develop a framework that can truly reduce poverty and extend greater economic security and opportunity to all households in the nation

Part II argues that to meet this challenge, an effective policy framework must have asset development at its core. It offers a first look at assets, noting their relation to shared popular beliefs about the keys to economic well-being, the increasing recognition of the importance of financial assets by some politicians across the ideological spectrum, and ground-breaking work relating to such assets by academics and policy researchers. It then offers a second and more considered look at assets, setting forth a comprehensive definition of assets, describing the various kinds of assets, both individual and collective, and detailing how they serve in diverse and important ways to afford families and individuals economic security and opportunity.

Part III describes the irony of current policy: how, in a number of respects, asset policies are not novel but those that exist have largely benefited the more affluent. It then details some of the great disparities in outcomes measured in terms of assets, especially financial assets, that point to the pressing need to remedy currently skewed or inadequate policies.

Part IV offers principles that should guide the process of constructing an asset-based policy framework, principles whose operation relates to the role that assets play in people's lives, both at the individual and community levels.

Part V acknowledges that making asset development a reality will require specific asset-based polices and that such policies will take shape only after a lengthy process of discussion, debate, conflict, and collaboration. But it argues that such a process has already begun. It describes many specific, forward looking asset-based policies of diverse kinds that have already been proposed and in some cases, have been translated into public and private action.

Part VI argues that the description of the policies and programs in the preceding section is an acknowledgment of what is already true: that in diverse, if tacit ways, many individuals have, by their own actions, embraced the concept of asset development and sought by means, often small, to translate that concept into reality. It contends that such activity, in itself, offers encouragement for the belief that a full-scale framework for asset development policy and policies built on it can gain the support of the American people. But it offers others reasons for optimism as well. It describes how an asset-based vision is compatible with the values by which American discourse about social welfare is generally framed. It identifies the strong rhetorical and substantive links between the New Deal policy framework and an asset-based one. It points to the strong connections between asset-based policies and earlier ones that can be traced back to as early as the colonial era. It describes why political support can be gained for successfully implementing asset development policies that can make a real difference in the lives of low-income families, and have a stature equal to the finest and most successful of America's social policy achievements.