The report contains ten chapters, written by academics or journalists who are all experts in their fields. Among the chapters are analyses of the relationship between the social fabric, crime and growth, surveys of social mobility and inequality, a critique of economic policy and of the relationship between social welfare policies and growth prospects. Points of focus in these analyses include black economic empowerment and the emerging African middle class.

Among the key insights of the book is how the challenges of growth are constantly changing as both the successes and unintended consequences of previous policies make themselves felt. The biggest challenge of all, as we simultaneously create millionaires out of BEE and construct the developing world’s most extensive welfare provision, will be to find a compromise between creating the conditions for the market to create growth and jobs, while repairing and sustaining the social fabric.