Paul Pierson is the John Gross Professor of Political Science at UC Berkeley. His teaching and research includes American politics and public policy, comparative political economy and social theory. Some of his books include Off-Center: The Republican Revolution and the Erosion of American Democracy, co-authored by Jacob Hacker, Politics in Time: History, Institutions and Social Analysis, and The Transformation of American Politics: Activist Government and the Rise of Conservatism, which was co-edited with Theda Skocpol, and Winner-Take-All Politics: How Washington Made the Rich Richer and Turned Its Back on the Middle Class, also coauthored by Jacob Hacker. Most recently, he and Hacker coauthored American Amnesia: How the War on Government Led Us to Forget What Made America Prosper. Pierson is an active commentator on public affairs, whose writings have appeared in such outlets as The New York Times Magazine, The Washington Post and The New Republic.