First Principles: Five Keys to Restoring America's Prosperity

Leading economist John B. Taylor’s straightforward plan to rebuild America’s economic future by returning to its founding principles.

Mired in a crippling economic slump and hamstrung by partisan political debates, America faces substantial economic challenges, from widespread unemployment to the government’s ballooning debt. These assaults on our prosperity reflect the unintended consequences of more than a decade of government intervention in virtually all areas of the economy. Stanford University economist John B. Taylor proposes a natural and reasonable solution to our economic challenges: return to the country’s founding principles―limited government, rule of law, strong incentives, reliance on markets, a predictable policy framework―and rekindle its economic dynamism.

John B. Taylor is the Raymond Professor of Economics at Stanford University and the George Shultz Senior Fellow at Stanford’s Hoover Institution. He was Treasury Under Secretary for International Affairs from 2001 to 2005.