For Dr. Hughes, beyond new jobs, the primary load-bearing pillar of the housing economy is the baby boom generation.

During a great banquet given by the countess a load-bearing pillar supporting the banqueting hall broke, causing the entire floor to collapse.

"Crabgrass Frontier," its fuse ticking away in the obscurity of scholarly exchange, is a mine set under some of the more important load-bearing pillars of the current social order.