The Case for Big Government (The Public Square) - Hardcover

Madrick, Jeff

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0691123314 ISBN 13: 9780691123318

Publisher: Princeton University Press, 2008

Synopsis

Political conservatives have long believed that the best government is a small government. But if this were true, noted economist Jeff Madrick argues, the nation would not be experiencing stagnant wages, rising health care costs, increasing unemployment, and concentrations of wealth for a narrow elite. In this perceptive and eye-opening book, Madrick proves that an engaged government--a big government of high taxes and wise regulations--is necessary for the social and economic answers that Americans desperately need in changing times. He shows that the big governments of past eras fostered greatness and prosperity, while weak, laissez-faire governments marked periods of corruption and exploitation. The Case for Big Government considers whether the government can adjust its current policies and set the country right.

Madrick explains why politics and economics should go hand in hand; why America benefits when the government actively nourishes economic growth; and why America must reject free market orthodoxy and adopt ambitious government-centered programs. He looks critically at today's politicians--at Republicans seeking to revive nineteenth-century principles, and at Democrats who are abandoning the pioneering efforts of the Great Society. Madrick paints a devastating portrait of the nation’s declining social opportunities and how the economy has failed its workers. He demonstrates that the government must correct itself to address these serious issues.

A practical call to arms, The Case for Big Government asks for innovation, experimentation, and a willingness to fail. The book sets aside ideology and proposes bold steps to ensure the nation’s vitality.

About this title

From the Back Cover

"Jeff Madrick makes a convincing case for the active role of government in the growth of our modern economy and our shared prosperity. Contrary to the ideology that has dominated debate in recent times, he challenges us to think anew about the responsibilities that government should meet in today's competitive global economy. As Madrick makes clear, government at its best can bring progress and greater opportunity to all citizens in countless ways that private markets can't provide, and it can do so without impairing the indispensable role of those markets."--Senator Edward M. Kennedy

"Madrick presents a well-reasoned, empirically supported argument for undoing the damage that too many years of mindless government bashing have inflicted on our capacity to achieve important societal goals."--Congressman Barney Frank (D-MA)

"Jeff Madrick makes a lucid and compelling case for why growth and prosperity depend on an effective and active government. Read this book and then go tell market fundamentalists why they're so fundamentally wrong."--Robert B. Reich, University of California, Berkeley; and former U.S. secretary of labor

"Jeff Madrick calls the bluff of those who claim that larger government has to be bad for growth. He serves notice that we must now switch from such conventional mantras to reviewing the facts about modern government. The book's balanced review of American history makes it clear that 'productive government investment' is not a contradiction in terms."--Peter Lindert, University of California, Davis

"This timely book describes the stagnation of living standards in middle America and places an agenda for reform squarely within the American heritage."--Avner Offer, University of Oxford

About the Author

Jeff Madrick is a regular contributor to the New York Review of Books and a former economics columnist for the New York Times. He is editor of Challenge magazine and senior fellow at the Roosevelt Institute and the New School's Schwartz Center for Economic Policy Analysis.

Edition details

• Publisher: Princeton University Press
• Publication date: 2008
• ISBN 10: 0691123314
• ISBN 13: 9780691123318
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 216