Clintonomics: How Bill Clinton Reengineered the Reagan Revolution

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		Clintonomics: How Bill Clinton Reengineered the Reagan Revolution
		Clintonomics: How Bill Clinton Reengineered the Reagan Revolution

基本信息·出版社：AMACOM
·页码：304 页
·出版日期：2009年03月
·ISBN：0814413986
·International Standard Book Number：0814413986
·条形码：9780814413982
·EAN：9780814413982
·装帧：精装
·正文语种：英语

内容简介 在线阅读本书

For years, a pervasive belief has reigned in American politics—that two of our most recent presidents had drastically opposing views of our economy and our world. Historians and economists alike have explored, extolled and criticized Ronald Reagan’s presidency, particularly the theory of “Reaganomics,” which affirmed that big government was the cause, not the solution, to our problems. In public, President Bill Clinton positioned his approach as the antidote to Reaganomics. But in reality, his governing philosophy was the logical corollary to the Reagan Revolution.

Clintonomics explores how Clinton’s presidency marked the return of fiscal discipline and the end of big government. Political scientist Jack Godwin reveals how Clinton succeeded where Reagan failed and how Clinton’s ability to demystify, but not simplify, the world around us made him one of the most successful politicians of all time. He shows how Clinton succeeded by repairing the flaws in Reaganomics and then presenting a governing philosophy appropriate for the 21st century and equal to the powerful forces of globalization. Controversial and insightful, this book will redefine how we see the legacies of these two leaders—and the forces that helped define their influence on the world.

From the Inside Flap
With a presidency marked by rancorous, sometimes crippling bipartisanship that twice brought Congress to a standstill, Bill Clinton elicited strong feelings in friends and foes alike. But often overlooked amid the heightened emotions was the fact that Clinton’s ideas and policies uniquely bridged the chasm between left and right to form a new worldview supporting fiscal responsibility, global connectivity, and ethnic diversity.

Clintonomics is the first book to go beyond the colorful biographical details to thoughtfully and meticulously analyze the powerful blend of liberal/conservative thinking that defined Clinton’s presidency—and preserve his legacy. By merging the best ideas from both the left and the right, Clinton was able to accomplish what his Republican predecessors had not: balancing the budget, reducing federal bureaucracy, reforming the economy, and positioning the country to compete in a global economy, while avoiding the cynical “government is the problem” attitude of the conservative movement. He even achieved pet GOP goals, such as reforming welfare and reducing government regulation, while still actively ensuring a level playing field and empowering all citizens to fulfill their potential.

Packed with original research and steeped in a rich historical perspective, this insightful book explores how Clinton’s presidency marked the return of fiscal discipline and the end of big government, and thus served as a logical corollary to the Reagan Revolution. It traces the evolution of Clinton’s political thinking and governing philosophy from his years as governor of Arkansas to his eight-year tenure as U.S. President, including chapters that:

•   Set the stage by outlining the ideas of the major political economists of the past centuries, from Adam Smith’s “invisible hand” to Friedrich Hayek’s ideas on limited government to John Kenneth Galbraith’s writings on the social balance.

•    Review the legacy of the Reagan years, with its emphasis on lower taxes, reduced spend­ing for social services, minimal government regulation of the economy, and major increases in military spending—all of which built a false prosperity on a mountain of debt.

•    Examine Clinton’s “Third-Way” principles, including pro-growth economic policy that fosters close ties to the private sector; a balanced budget with a smaller, less bureaucratic federal government; and reduction of economic inequality through investments in education and technology.

•    Look at specific ways that Clinton set out to solve looming challenges, including healthcare, immigration, welfare, trade, and education—challenges that continue to demand our attention and national will to resolve.

Clinton transcended the simplistic idea that liberals want to expand government and conservatives want to starve it to death. His “Third Way” is a political hybrid of right/left thinking that embraced the complexities and opportunities of a globalized, interlocked world. Clintonomics serves as a blueprint of potentially success­ful strategies for the twenty-first century, and a model for future administrations to study and emulate.

作者简介

Jack Godwin, Ph.D. (Sacramento, CA) is a political scientist with extensive experience in business and government spanning more than two decades and dozens of countries. He currently serves as Chief International Officer at California State University.

编辑推荐

"well-researched...Mr. Godwin is onto something..." -- Washington Times

"Barack Obama does have something to learn from Bill Clinton and 'Clintonomics.'” --Newsmax magazine

专业书评 From the Back Cover

“This book is a must read for those struggling to figure out the present eco­nomic crisis. As the author makes clear, the key contribution of the Clinton presidency was to repo­si­tion the American economy for the 21st century. The failure to adhere to lessons of fiscal responsibility, limited government, invest­ments in people and global leadership has badly weakened our economy and our stature in the world.”

—Leon E. Panetta, former Chief of Staff to President Clinton

“Reading Clintonomics is like going on a journey to rediscover the great ideas and great principles that have guided us for more than two hundred years. It is not a nostalgic look at the nineties, but a governing philosophy for the global era.”

— From the Foreword by John Garamendi, Lt. Governor of California

Though many insisted Bill Clinton’s politics were the polar opposite of Ronald Reagan’s, and Clinton himself declared Clintonomics to be the antidote to Reagan­omics, political scientist Jack Godwin argues otherwise. His book Clintonomics explores the intriguing idea that Clinton’s governing philosophy was the logical exten­sion of the Reagan Revolution, and provides compelling evidence of how Clinton transformed classic conservative ideas, such as welfare reform, into his own hybrid, Third-Way policies.

Clintonomics rejects the frequent complaint that Clinton failed to formulate a coher­ent political ideology—and thus failed to earn a place in the pantheon of presidential greats. Instead, the book argues that Clinton’s political ideas were clearly articulated and firmly grounded in the realities of globalism, and that his relentless pursuit of fiscal discipline and a smaller, more efficient bureaucracy brought him the kind of success not achieved by Reagan.

Controversial and insightful, Clintonomics will redefine how we see the legacies of these two leaders—and the forces that helped define their influence on the world.

目录

Contents

Acknowledgments xiii

Introduction 1

Part One: Political Economy

1. The Purpose of Politics 15

The Old Dogmas 19

The Stormy Present 28

2. The Philosophical Foundation 32

John Locke: The Labor Theory of Value 34

Jean-Jacques Rousseau: The Social Contract 35

Adam Smith: The Invisible Hand 36

Jeremy Bentham: The Greatest Good 38

David Ricardo: Free Trade 39

Friedrich List: Limits of Free Trade 40

Henry Charles Carey: Benefits of Fair Trade 42

John Stuart Mill: The National Debt 43

Karl Marx: The Capitalist System 44

John Maynard Keynes: Deficit Spending 45

Joseph Schumpeter: Entrepreneurship 48

Friedrich Hayek: Limited Government 50

John Kenneth Galbraith: The Social Balance 52

3. The Reagan Legacy 56

The Genealogy of Reaganomics 61

Public Versus Private Ownership 67

Civil Rights and Social Issues 73

The Conservative Deficit 76

4. The Global System 85

The Laws of Complexity 90

A Web of Mutuality 94

5. Reflections on Change 104

Typology of Change 105

Future Preference 121

Part Two: Public Policy

6. The Role of Government (A) 129

The End of Big Government 134

The New Covenant 145

7. The Role of Government (B) 151

The Third Way 153

The Two Friedmans 159

New Federalism 171

8. Theory of Constraints 181

Budgeting 185

Healthcare 198

Welfare 204

Diversity 208

Education 217

Immigration 224

Trade 230

Defense 240

9. Bridge to the Future 248

 select Bibliography 257

Notes 263

Index 285

……
文摘

Introduction

I wasn’t a great communicator, but I communicated great things, and they didn’t spring full bloom from my brow, they came from the heart of a great nation—from our experience, our wisdom, and our belief in the principles that have guided us for two centuries. They called it the Reagan revolution.1

—Ronald Reagan, 1989

On September 11, 2001, I awoke early at my home in Sacramento. As usual, I made coffee, retrieved the newspaper from the front porch, and turned on the Music of Your Life, the station that plays Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, and Tony Bennett. It was a picture-perfect September morning, sixty degrees and not a cloud in the sky. I was reading the newspaper when the radio announced a second plane had hit the World Trade Center. I thought for a moment: a second plane? Then I put down the paper and turned on the television.

In the days that followed, I supported George W. Bush, particularly when he stood on the rubble of the World Trade Center and put his arm around that retired firefighter. When Bush visited the Islamic Center in Washington and read from the Koran, I thought it put the American commitment to freedom of religion in the best possible light. His speech to Congress at the end of September was not bad. Rescue workers were still digging through the rubble, but we were all beginning to recover from the shock. British Prime Minister Tony Blair was in the gallery, and it moved me when Bush said America had no truer friend than Great Britain.

When the Taliban refused to hand over Osama bin Laden, I supported the invasion of Afghanistan—but then we failed to capture him. When
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