How did the labor market stop working for so many Americans? Why did wages at the bottom and the middle of the pay scale become untethered from the rest of the economy - which saw a 60% gain in net productivity and an equal or better bump in wages among the top 5% of earners? What can we do about it now? The Wage Standard is a deep dive into these very questions, which Arin Dube has studied for over two decades. Think Evicted for minimum wage. Since the 1970s, the economy around us has changed in dramatic, fundamental ways - making America much richer - whereas the wages paid to most American workers have barely budged since 1979. Indeed, when it comes to low- or middle-wage earners, their purchasing power has stagnated and even fallen. They remain painfully frozen in time. Dube presents three keys to unlocking this conundrum. To start with, a strong minimum wage can be an important part of the resolution. Second, in the study of low-wage America there lies an argument for building up wage standards more generally. Lastly, he presents a hopeful message - rooted in data - that doesn't require us to fix the broken politics of Washington, D.C. So long as there is political will, public engagement, and persistence, we can reset the labor market and improve the lives of American workers today.