Adam Smith's "Wealth of Nations" meets Thomas Paine's "Common Sense".Since the 2008 Financial Crisis, the academic economic community has become obsessed with the topic of income inequality. This sector has proposed many socialistic solutions to the problem ranging from increasingly progressive tax systems to flat-out wealth redistribution. Despite expending lots of effort towards offering solutions to income inequality, the academic economic community has expended very little effort toward educating the general populace on the basic operations of and reasons for our current financial system."Understanding the Way Forward", on the contrary, makes every effort to truly educate the reader on topics such as money, taxes, fiscal policy, and finance BEFORE proposing a realistic and workable solution to the problem of unjust income inequality. Topics that financial experts generally consider "too complex" for the average person have been broken down to their basic principles in each and every chapter by using simple examples. In addition, obscure financial terms have been replaced with more common wording. After, and only after, the reader has been exposed to basic modern financial operations does "Understanding the Way Forward" begin to push the reader toward considering a completely new, yet completely reasonable solution to income inequality that acknowledges the necessity for capitalistic incentive in creating an economically just society.Concisely written, "Understanding the Way Forward" can be finished in afternoon which leaves the reader plenty of time to reread any topics that may still seem a little bit foreign after first exposure. Although monetary and fiscal policy are unusual topics for the average person, after reading the book, anyone should be prepared to have an intelligent conversation on the topic of income inequality and, furthermore, be equipped to argue for the creation of a new monetary and fiscal system which encourages continued societal development by enabling unhampered income mobility.