Book excerpt: The Bridge to a Global Middle Class compiles a unique series of papers originally commissioned by the Council on Foreign Relations in the wake of the financial crises of 1997-1998. This thought-provoking retrospective culls the views of economists, international financial institutions, Wall Street, organized labor and varying public-interest organizations on the issue of how to fortify our global financial infrastructure. Their effort is the culmination of an 18-month study - The Project on Development, Trade, and International Finance - that seeks to encourage the evolution of middle-class oriented economic development in emerging market countries. In addressing the world economic problems that led to the crises and examining methods to improve the workings of the world's financial markets, they offer ideas, policy recommendations, and suggest the concrete forms these might take, in the drive to transition the world economy toward strategies that offer the developing world an improved standard of living. These papers make a convincing case for middle-class-oriented economic development as the key to global prosperity and stability. U.S. and international policy-makers will find these insightful discussions valuable in forming new policy and providing the appropriate stimulus for economic development in emerging economies.