{"product_id":"the-broken-ladder-isbn-9780143128908","title":"The Broken Ladder","description":"\u003cb\u003e\"A persuasive and highly readable account.\" —President Barack Obama\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Brilliant. . . . an important, fascinating read arguing that inequality creates a public health crisis in America.” \u003cb\u003e—\u003c\/b\u003eNicholas Kristof, \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“\u003ci\u003eThe Broken Ladder\u003c\/i\u003e is an important, timely, and beautifully written account of how inequality affects us all.” \u003cb\u003e—Adam Alter, \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e bestselling author of \u003ci\u003eIrresistible\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eDrunk Tank Pink\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA timely examination by a leading scientist of the physical, psychological, and moral effects of inequality. \u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe levels of inequality in the world today are on a scale that have not been seen in our lifetimes, yet the disparity between rich and poor has ramifications that extend far beyond mere financial means. In \u003ci\u003eThe Broken Ladder\u003c\/i\u003e psychologist Keith Payne examines how inequality divides us not just economically; it also has profound consequences for how we think, how we respond to stress, how our immune systems function, and even how we view moral concepts such as justice and fairness.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eResearch in psychology, neuroscience, and behavioral economics has not only revealed important new insights into how inequality changes people in predictable ways but also provided a corrective to the flawed view of poverty as being the result of individual character failings. Among modern developed societies, inequality is not primarily a matter of the actual amount of money people have. It is, rather, people's sense of where they stand in relation to others. Feeling poor matters—not just being poor. Regardless of their average incomes, countries or states with greater levels of income inequality have much higher rates of all the social maladies we associate with poverty, including lower than average life expectancies, serious health problems, mental illness, and crime.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Broken Ladder\u003c\/i\u003e explores such issues as why women in poor societies often have more children, and why they have them at a younger age; why there is little trust among the working class in the prudence of investing for the future; why people's perception of their social status affects their political beliefs and leads to greater political divisions; how poverty raises stress levels as effectively as actual physical threats; how inequality in the workplace affects performance; and why unequal societies tend to become more religious. Understanding how inequality shapes our world can help us better understand what drives ideological divides, why high inequality makes the middle class feel left behind, and how to disconnect from the endless treadmill of social comparison.\"A persuasive and highly readable account of how rising inequality, and not just absolute poverty, is undermining our politics, social cohesion, long term prosperity, and general well-being.\"\u003cbr\u003e—\u003cb\u003ePresident Barack Obama\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Brilliant. . . . an important, fascinating read arguing that inequality creates a public health crisis in America. . . . Payne challenges a common perception that the real problem isn’t inequality but poverty, and he’s persuasive that societies are shaped not just by disadvantage at the bottom but also by inequality across the spectrum. . . . So much of the national conversation now is focused on President Trump, for understandable reasons. But I suspect that he is a symptom as well as a cause, and that to uncover the root of our national dysfunctions we must go deeper than politics, deeper than poverty, deeper than demagoguery, and confront the inequality that is America today.”\u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003e—Nicholas Kristof, \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Authoritative, thought provoking, accessible and well worth a spot on your summer reading list. . . . Payne embraces the egalitarian view that inequality of income is problem in and of itself—economically, morally, politically. . . . Demonstrate[s] how much more interesting and enlightening the inequality debate has become since those early days when it was mostly labor economists debating how much inequality had increased and whether we should blame technology or trade. . . . While we have come to understand that a society can suffer from having either too much inequality or too little, the challenge now is identifying and getting to that sweet spot in between.”\u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003e—Steven Pearlstein, \u003ci\u003eThe Washington Post\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Keith Payne is intent on showing how the problem of inequality operates within the human mind. . . . Beyond its case studies, the memoir portion of Payne’s book is compelling in its own way, and is a counternarrative to J.D. Vance’s \u003ci\u003eHillbilly Elegy\u003c\/i\u003e. \u003ci\u003eThe Broken Ladder\u003c\/i\u003e is a liberal man’s view of his own rise. . . . Payne’s book will make its readers pause to consider the human condition in more depth.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e—Nancy Isenberg, \u003ci\u003eThe American Scholar\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Drawing on experimental psychology, Payne argues that the amount of money you have is not the main determinant of well-being; what matters is how you feel about it. The problem of inequality is relational, not economic. Poverty unquestionably harms health, encourages bad decisions and creates instability. But the key message of Payne’s book is that people who are not deprived may act as if they are—because they feel relatively poor.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e—Aaron Reeves, \u003ci\u003eNature\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e“An important and disturbing book to tell us how inequality is affecting Americans psychologically. . . . Payne, who grew up poor in Kentucky hill country, felt the injuries of class as a child. . . . As an adult, he is helping to create a new ‘science of inequality,’ by studying such subjects as the connection between social status and stress . . . and income inequality and life expectancy. . . . It is sobering stuff, and it should make us think about the hidden costs of growing income inequality—and about the messages society is sending to people about where they fit in.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003e—The National Book Review\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e“Relying on dozens of experimental studies, which he describes in vivid and graspable narratives, Payne shows that even in a generally wealthy society, feeling poor relative to your neighbors will harm your health, impair your ability to make long-term plans, push you toward conspiracy theories and ultimately cause you to die sooner than you otherwise would. On measures of well-being, residents of the United States fare worse than residents of countries like Canada, Sweden or Japan, all of which are less wealthy but more equal. . . . Payne wants us to start ‘building a flatter ladder’ between rich and poor and ‘get better at living amid its rungs.’”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003e—America Magazine\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e“Payne’s writing on how inequality changes people’s decisions, beliefs, and even their health is eye-opening and efficient. . . . \u003ci\u003eThe Broken Ladder\u003c\/i\u003e is a clear and useful book about the gap between the society we have and a society we want. It’s an important step toward understanding how these complicated issues affect our country—alongside books like Matthew Desmond’s \u003ci\u003eEvicted\u003c\/i\u003e, which takes a more narrative approach to the issue, and Per Molander’s \u003ci\u003eThe Anatomy of Inequality\u003c\/i\u003e, which analyzes it from an economic point of view. Inequality can seem intractable, but these writers are steering us in the right direction. It is no doubt difficult to situate the problem of inequality in such a fraught political landscape, with a President so intent on hurting so many, but keeping an eye on a long-term vision of a more egalitarian society is necessary, too. Keeping Payne’s book on your bedside table is a good place to start.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e—Bradley Babendir, \u003ci\u003eThe Rumpus\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e“Inequality is like gravity in that it is a weighty and pervasive unseen force in daily life. . . . Payne makes a compelling case here for the invisible hand of inequality as a major factor in life—with predictable effects on life expectancy and social behavior—and an influence on political leanings. . . . [A]n engaging interdisciplinary blend of psychology, sociology, and economics that will also appeal to avid readers of politics.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003e—Booklist\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“In a wide-ranging exploration of how we view ourselves in relation to others, Payne shows that ‘the social comparisons we make can alter how we see the world.’ . . . Smartly blending personal observations with recent research in psychology and neuroscience (his own and that of others), he details how our perceived relative position in the scheme of things plays a ‘critical role’ in shaping our biases, habits, and ideas. . . . In revealing vignettes, Payne describes how feelings of inequality help account for our political choices, unhealthy behaviors, racial prejudices, and tendency to seek meaningful patterns. . . . [Payne] provides valuable psychological insights into our daily behaviors.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003e—Kirkus Reviews\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e“\u003ci\u003eThe Broken Ladder\u003c\/i\u003e advances a timely examination by a leading social scientist of the physical, psychological, and moral effects of inequality and the measures that people can take to lessen the harm done by inequality in their own lives.”\u003cbr\u003e—\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e“Keith Payne has written an eye-opening book with profound resonance for the state of our world. We all know that income inequality has dire economic and societal consequences, but \u003ci\u003eThe Broken Ladder\u003c\/i\u003e shows that it has deep psychological impact too, affecting our decision-making, our mood and our health. A thoughtful look — and a rallying cry — into the way our environment shapes us all.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e—Susan Cain, co-founder of Quiet Revolution and New York Times bestselling author of \u003ci\u003eQuiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“\u003ci\u003eThe Broken Ladder\u003c\/i\u003e’s examination of the consequences of inequality—of what it is like to be poor and to feel poor—is as profound as it is revelatory. Keith Payne is a lovely, graceful writer. Replete with gems of research studies, insights, and illuminating examples and implications, this book will change the way you think about your world.”\u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003e—Sonja \u003cb\u003eLyubomirsky \u003c\/b\u003e, Ph.D., professor of psychology at the University of California, Riverside and author of \u003ci\u003eThe How of Happiness\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“\u003ci\u003eThe Broken Ladder\u003c\/i\u003e is an important, timely, and beautifully written account of how inequality affects us all. Though it surely plagues the poorest and most vulnerable members of society, Keith Payne expertly and engagingly shows that it also touches the wealthy and privileged. Payne marshals the cutting edge in psychology and neuroscience research to explain how inequality influences our political and religious beliefs, how we perform at work, and how we respond to stress and physical threats—and how we can combat its most insidious effects on our lives.”\u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003e—Adam Alter, Associate Professor of Marketing at New York University’s Stern School Business, and \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e Bestselling author of \u003ci\u003eIrresistible\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eDrunk Tank Pink\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Many books have been written on the effects of inequality on the economy. In \u003ci\u003eThe Broken Ladder\u003c\/i\u003e, Keith Payne sheds fascinating insight into the pernicious effects of inequality on another complex system: human psychology.”\u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003e—Michael Norton, co-author, \u003ci\u003eHappy Money: The Science of Happier Spending\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003eKeith Payne\u003c\/b\u003e is a professor of psychology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and an international leader in the psychology of inequality and discrimination. His research has been featured in \u003ci\u003eThe Atlantic\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eThe New York Times\u003c\/i\u003e, and on NPR, and he has written for \u003ci\u003eScientific American\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003ePsychology Today\u003c\/i\u003e.Chapter 1\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Lunch Lady Economics\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Why Feeling Poor Hurts Like Being Poor\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e I learned I was poor on the new lunch lady's first day at work.      Before that, my school had had the same cashier for as long as my      fourth-grade mind could remember. I knew that some kids paid when      they got to the register and others, like me, didn't. But the old      lunch lady passed us through the line, money or not, as smoothly      as our plastic trays glided over the rail. Then one day she was      gone, replaced by a younger woman who seemed to be trying hard. As      I carried my food past her, she stopped me and asked for $1.25. I      felt off balance, the way you do when an elevator stops too      quickly. I started stammering, the only thing I could do, since I      had not a cent. I would gladly have given her any amount of cash      at that moment simply to escape. At that point, an older woman,      tall and skinny in a pink polo shirt, like a flamingo with a      hairnet, leaned over and whispered in her ear, and I was waved      through. Eventually, the lunch line returned to its silent      procession. But a hard week passed before the new cashier learned      who paid what.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e The moment when I realized what my free lunches meant is still      with me, and I can feel the heat in my face as I recount it.      Though my family had no less money than the day before, that      moment changed everything for me. I began to notice differences      between myself and my classmates. Despite the fact that we all      wore the same school uniform, the kids who paid for their lunches      seemed to dress better. Was it the shoes? They even had better      hair. Did they go to a salon instead of having it cut with a bowl      and a pair of scissors at home? We had all grown up within a dozen      miles of one another, but the free-lunch kids had our parents'      Southern drawls. The lunch-money kids had the generic voices of      newscasters, from everywhere and nowhere at once.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Always a shy kid, I became almost completely silent at school. Who      was I to speak? Suddenly a new social ladder stretched out before      me, above me. Its rungs were marked with shoes and hair and      accents, telegraphing a code I was just learning to decipher. It      did not matter that nothing in my circumstances had changed but my      perspective. Now I was, in fact, poor.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e If you are used to thinking about wealth and poverty purely in      financial terms, the way an accountant would, my response makes no      sense. My insight did not change my parents' income. It did not      change our monthly expenses. It changed nothing in the world,      except for me. But by redirecting my attention and altering my      perceptions, my thoughts, and my actions, it changed my future.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e To understand how we think about status, take a look at the image      of the ladder on the next page. Imagine that the people at the top      of this ladder are the best off. They have the most money, the      best education, and the highest-paying jobs. The people at the      bottom are the worst off. They have the least money, the lowest      levels of education, and the most menial jobs, if they have jobs      at all. If you were to assess your own economic position with      respect to that of other people, which of the ten rungs would you      place yourself on?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e This simple image is one of the most widely used measures of      subjective social status. Let's call it the Status Ladder. We      should be able to perfectly predict where a person would place      himself on the ladder if we knew his income, level of education,      and the prestige of his job.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Except we can't-and we can't even come close to doing so. It is      true that, on average, people with higher incomes, more education,      and more prestigious jobs do rate themselves higher on the ladder.      But the effect is relatively small. In a sample of, say, a      thousand people, some will rate themselves at the top, others will      rate themselves at the bottom, and many will be in between. But      only about 20 percent of their self-evaluation is based on income,      education, and job status.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e This surprisingly small relationship between traditional markers      of status and how it is perceived subjectively means that there      are a lot of people who are by objective standards affluent and      yet rate themselves on the lower rungs. Similarly, many people who      are objectively poor rate themselves high up the ladder.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e A standard economic analysis would argue that people's own      conceptions of themselves are effectively airy nothings, mere      noises that flit around like the sound of static between radio      stations. If subjective perceptions do not align with objectively      measurable quantities like money, then so much the worse for those      perceptions. Certainly, money \u003ci\u003eis \u003c\/i\u003epart of the story, but it's not      the whole story, and not even the main character.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e We have to take subjective perceptions of status seriously,      because they reveal so much about people's fates. If you place      yourself on a lower rung, then you are more likely in the coming      years to suffer from depression, anxiety, and chronic pain. The      lower the rung you select, the more probable it is that you will      make bad decisions and underperform at work. The lower the rung      you select, the more likely you are to believe in the supernatural      and in conspiracy theories. The lower the rung you select, the      more prone you are to weight issues, diabetes, and heart problems.      The lower the rung you select, the fewer years you have left to      live.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Let me be clear that I am not simply asserting that, if you are      poor, then all of these things are more likely to happen to you. I      am stating, rather, that these things are more likely to happen to      you if you \u003ci\u003efeel \u003c\/i\u003epoor, regardless of your actual income. Of course,      one reason people might feel poor is that they are actually poor.      But as we have seen, that's just 20 percent of the story. For the      rest of it, we have to look at ordinary middle-class people and      ask why it is that, regardless of actual money, so many of them      feel that they are barely getting by, that they are living      paycheck to paycheck, that the neighbors know something they      don't, and that if they could just earn a little more, then      everything would be a little bit better. To understand the Status      Ladder, we have to look beyond bank accounts and start looking at      people.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e All of us are aware of how much money we make, but very few of us      know whether we make enough. That's because the only way we      determine how much is actually \"enough\" is by comparing ourselves      to other people. We make comparisons to other people so habitually      that we rarely even notice that we are doing so. When a neighbor      pulls up in a new car, we don't typically say to ourselves, \"They      have an Audi, so I need one, too.\" We are more sophisticated and      mature than that. We might tell ourselves that our neighbor's good      fortune is none of our business, or that she deserves the new car      because of her hard work. If we do have an immediate impulse to      keep pace with her, we might banish the thought as soon as it      appears. And yet, the next time we get in our own car, we notice      just a little more than yesterday how worn the seat is getting.      Social comparison is inevitable.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e It is hard to recognize such comparisons at work in our own lives,      because they take place in the background, and we are experiencing      the foreground. When the noise in a restaurant gets louder, for      example, we begin to feel that our dinner partner is speaking      quietly, because our attention is on our partner's face, not the      surrounding room.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e While we feel rich or poor based on the comparisons we make, the      fact that social comparisons always take place in the background      causes certain blind spots. Think for a minute about what matters      most to you. What are the values that make you who you are? What      are the motives that drive you? I have asked hundreds of people      these questions over the years, and the usual responses include      such ideals as love, faith, loyalty, honesty, and integrity.      Although there is some variety in the answers, the whole list      could be written on a business card. They are similar for men and      for women, for Northerners and for Southerners, for Democrats and      for Republicans. And yet, no one ever mentions something that we      know to be true, both from scientific studies and from simply      being human: \"I crave status.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Others might not acknowledge that, but we can certainly see it in      their behavior. We can observe it in the clothes they buy, in the      houses they choose to live in, and in the gifts they give. Above      all we can perceive it in the constantly shifting standards for      what counts as \"enough.\" If you have ever received a raise, only      to adapt to the new level of income in a few months and again      begin to feel as though you were still living paycheck to paycheck      as before, then you can experience it in yourself. As your      accomplishments rise, so do your comparison standards. Unlike the      rigid columns of numbers that make up a bank ledger, status is      always a moving target, because it is defined by ongoing      comparisons to others.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e We make social comparisons to all sorts of people on every type of      occasion, yet we mysteriously manage to find ourselves on the top      half of the Status Ladder again and again. We find it most      comfortable to reside there. Consider for a minute how      accomplished you are at your job. How intelligent are you? How      moral? How loyal a friend? Are you a good driver? Deep down, you      know that you are better than the average person in all these      respects. In fact, the majority of people know deep down that they      are better than average at most things. Which, as far as anyone      can tell, is not strictly possible.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e This finding is called the Lake Wobegon effect, after Garrison      Keillor's fictional town \"where all the women are strong, all the      men are good-looking, and all the children are above average.\" The      effect was stumbled upon in a 1965 study of accident survivors.      Researchers spent six months interviewing all of the patients      admitted to a Seattle hospital for injuries sustained in vehicle      accidents. They compared the patients to a group of control      participants who were matched on age, sex, race, and education.      One of the interview questions asked the patients to rate their      driving ability. Although it was not originally the main point of      the study, that question is the reason that the study is      remembered today, because the hospitalized patients rated      themselves as better-than-average drivers. In fact, their ratings      were just as high as those of the control group, who had not been      in auto accidents. Clearly, these patients were not going to let      the mere fact of being hospitalized after a car accident affect      their self-image as good drivers.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Was it possible that the accidents were not, in fact, the      patients' fault? For each case researchers examined police records      to determine who was actually responsible and who was a blameless      victim. After identifying those drivers who did cause the      respective accidents, it was clear that their ratings were just as      inflated as everyone else's.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Another early example of the effect was discovered in a massive      survey by the College Board, which produces the SAT college entry      exams. About a million students who took the SAT in a given year      were asked to rate themselves compared with the median student      (the median being the point at which half are better and half are      worse). The ratings were not only about SAT performance, but also      on personal characteristics like leadership and getting along with      others. Seventy percent rated themselves as being above the median      in leadership ability, and 85 percent rated themselves above the      median in getting along well with others.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e In another study, psychologist Constantine Sedikides and      colleagues asked a group of volunteers to rate how good a person      they were on several dimensions. The volunteers considered      themselves to be more moral, kinder, more dependable, more      trustworthy, and more honest than the average person-an      unsurprising result, except that these volunteers were recruited      by visiting a prison and enrolling convicted felons. The only      category in which they did not consider themselves above average      was \"law abiding.\" Here, they rated themselves as average.      Considering that they were behind bars at the time they made that      judgment, it seems to lack a certain objectivity.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Over the years, hundreds of studies have replicated the Lake      Wobegon effect. The studies show that most of us believe we are      above average in intelligence, persistence, conscientiousness,      badminton, and just about any other positive quality. The more we      value the trait, the more we overrate ourselves with respect to      it. My favorite study in this genre is one in which my fellow      college professors were asked to rate their teaching abilities      compared with those of their colleagues. A stunning 94 percent      said they were better than average. One variant of this tendency      is really the mother of all biases: Most people rate themselves as      more objective and less biased than the average person.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Of course, pushing ourselves up the ladder in our own minds is not      the only way we make the most of our social comparisons. Sometimes      we pull other people down. I was recently standing in a      supermarket checkout line and learned that Kim Kardashian was      getting fat, Dolly Parton was wasting away, and Miley Cyrus was      misusing her talent. Some housewives also seemed to be arguing      with one another. Why is it that celebrity \"news\" showers us like      confetti, but we never see headlines about Dale, the local HVAC      repairman and his on-again, off-again relationship to Brenda, the      home health care nurse?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e The answer, of course, is that we are fascinated by high status.      Since Aristotle, people of elevated status have served as the      heroes in our dramas, because only someone who starts high up can      fall from grace. In daily life, as in art, our eyes track the      lives of the rich and famous and look right past the ordinary      slouches to our left and right.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Why do we care so much about status? This is the point in most      books where the argument is made that human beings are unique      among the animal kingdom, but in this case the craving for status      does not set us apart. In fact, it is such an ancient part of our      nature that we share it with our primate cousins. Watching baboons      or chimpanzees compete openly, physically, and sometimes violently      for their position in the hierarchy feels simultaneously foreign      and familiar to us. It's as uncomfortable as watching them mate:      We feel embarrassed by their vulgarity and yet we recognize      exactly what is driving them.","brand":"Penguin Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46304486424805,"sku":"NP9780143128908","price":18.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9780143128908.jpg?v=1767738543","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/products\/the-broken-ladder-isbn-9780143128908","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}