Elements of the "American dream" are adequate housing, education for one's children, and a secure retirement. Economic growth has long been seen as a way to realize the dream. Recent data indicate that achieving the dream and succeeding in the labor market have become more difficult due to sluggish productivity growth, increased competition from abroad, technological change, and shifts in attitudes and expectations about roles of minorities and women. Recognition of the elements of social scarcity should help in lowering expectations that cannot be fully realized by everyone. A review and critique of U.S. economic growth shows that growth and change impose costs and benefits on individuals, communities, and society. Costs are borne by displaced workers and depressed labor markets, whereas benefits are more widely diffused in the form of less expensive products. To add value that can justify rising living standards, the quality of inputs must be raised, primarily labor inputs via better education. Basic and recurrent elements of education have increasingly become the foundation for workers' employment security, which in turn requires adaptability to changing work requirements. Work improvements may increasingly take the form of individualized situations that have a positive impact on productivity and economic growth. (25 references) (YLB)