In direct challenge to the liberal political thinking that built the welfare state, the authors have developed a blueprint for a new War on Poverty, utilising an innovative approach to mobilising urban capital to strengthen African American families, build wealth through meaningful employment among those now in poverty, and develop America’s urban landscape without imposing additional tax burdens on the American people. After four decades of failure of the welfare state, Blackwell and Corsi argue for its phase-out through applying new techniques of public finance - not dependent upon new taxes - to enlist financial institutions in deploying new urban capital into rebuilding cities. The goal is to work with established and newly formed corporations that integrate jobs and re-training programmes to advance an ownership society in which families can thrive.