The book is divided into three sections: Chapters 1 through 6 describe "the fundamental characteristics of the second machine age," based on many examples of modern use of technology.

Chapters 7 through 11 describe economic impacts of technology in terms of two concepts the authors call "bounty" and "spread."

Finally, in chapters 12 through 15, the authors prescribe some policy interventions that could enhance the benefits and reduce the harm of new technologies.

The Washington Post says that its strength is how it weaves micro and macroeconomics with insights from other disciplines into an accessible story.

It says that the weaknesses of the book are that its policy prescriptions are "straight from the talking points that tech executives have been peddling for years on their visits to the capital", even though they are "perfectly reasonable".