Bold Endeavors: How Our Government Built America, and Why It Must Rebuild Now - Hardcover

Rohatyn, Felix G.

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9781416533122: Bold Endeavors: How Our Government Built America, and Why It Must Rebuild Now
Hardcover
ISBN 10: 1416533125 ISBN 13: 9781416533122
Publisher: Simon & Schuster, 2009

Synopsis

Describes ten large-scale public investments, including the Louisiana Purchase, the Panama Canal, and the G.I. Bill, and their impact on American economics and society.

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About the Author

Felix Rohatyn, a frequent contributor to The New York Review of Books, was a managing director at the investment banking firm Lazard Freres & Co. LLC and served as the U.S. ambassador to France. From 1975 to 1993, Mr. Rohatyn was chairman of the Municipal Assistance Corporation of the State of New York, where he managed the negotiations that enabled New York City to resolve its financial crisis.

Reviews

Rohatyn (former managing director, Lazard Frères & Co.) retells ten major events in U.S. history from a banker's perspective. He aims both to engender an understanding of how important national leadership has been to the development of our country and to sound a call for national investment in renewing our nation's infrastructure. Organized as a series of case studies, the book explores federally funded undertakings such as the Louisiana Purchase and the Reconstruction Finance Corporation and describes the circumstances through which each came to pass. Rohatyn nicely summarizes quite complex historical events, some of which (e.g., the GI Bill) make a more compelling case than others (e.g., the Homestead Act) for the unequivocal success of federally supported national development endeavors. Ultimately, Rohatyn proposes the creation of a National Infrastructure Bank to guide federal funds for public works projects (roads, bridges, schools, etc.) to go to the most critical needs, then details how such a bank might improve upon current means of distributing federal funds for such projects. Maps would have been beneficial for some chapters. Recommended for all interested readers in U.S. history or current affairs.—Elizabeth L. Winter, Georgia Inst. of Technology, Atlanta
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Publisher
Simon & Schuster
Publication date
2009
Language
English
ISBN 10 
1416533125
ISBN 13 
9781416533122
Binding
Hardcover
Number of pages
272
Rating
  • 4.00 out of 5 stars
    52 ratings by Goodreads

Other Popular Editions of the Same Title

9781416533139: Bold Endeavors: How Our Government Built America, and Why It Must Rebuild Now

Featured Edition

ISBN 10:  1416533133 ISBN 13:  9781416533139
Publisher: Simon & Schuster, 2011
Softcover