As the country divides itself at every turn, the meritocratic ideal—that social and economic rewards should follow achievement rather than breeding—reigns supreme. Meritocracy cuts to the heart of who we are, and sustains the American dream. But what if meritocracy is a sham? This is the radical argument that Daniel Markovits prosecutes with rare force. Markovits shows that, in our current age, meritocracy has become exactly what it was conceived to resist: a mechanism for the concentration and dynastic transmission of wealth and privilege across generations. Upward mobility has become a fantasy, and the embattled middle classes are now more likely to sink into the working poor than to rise into the professional elite. At the same time, meritocracy now ensnares even those who manage to claw their way to the top, requiring rich adults to work with crushing intensity, exploiting their expensive educations in order to extract a return. All this is not the result of deviations or retreats from meritocracy but rather stems directly from meritocracy's successes. Having spent his life at elite universities, Markovits knows from the inside the corrosive system we are trapped within. But he also knows that, if we understand how meritocratic inequality produces near-universal harm, we can cure it. The Meritocracy Trap reveals the inner workings of the meritocratic machine, and also illuminates the first steps towards a new world that might once again afford dignity and prosperity to the American people.