Back to Work: Why We Need Smart Government for a Strong Economy
President Bill Clinton gives us his views on the
challenges facing the United States today and why government matters—presenting his
ideas on restoring economic growth, job creation, financial responsibility, resolving the
mortgage crisis, and pursuing a strategy to get us "back in the future business.”
He explains how we got into the current economic crisis, and offers specific
recommendations on how we can put people back to work, increase bank lending and corporate
investment, double our exports, restore our manufacturing base, and create new businesses.
He supports President Obama’s emphasis on green technology, saying that changing the way
we produce and consume energy is the strategy most likely to spark a fast-growing economy
while enhancing our national security.
Clinton also stresses that we need a strong private
sector and a smart government working together to restore prosperity and progress,
demonstrating that whenever we’ve given in to the temptation to blame government for all
our problems, we’ve lost our ability to produce sustained economic growth and shared
prosperity.
Clinton writes, “There is simply no evidence that
we can succeed in the twenty-first century with an antigovernment strategy,” based on
“a philosophy grounded in ‘you’re on your own’ rather than ‘we’re all in this
together.’ ” He believes that conflict between government and the private sector has
proved to be good politics but has produced bad policies, giving us a weak economy with
not enough jobs, growing income inequality and poverty, and a decline in our competitive
position. In the real world, cooperation works much better than conflict, and “Americans
need victories in real life.”
208 pages, Paperback