Seeds of Destruction : Why the Path to Economic Ruin Runs Through Washington, and How to Reclaim American Prosperity

by Hubbard, R. Glenn; Navarro, Peter

• ISBN13: 9780137027736
• ISBN10: 0137027737
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2010-08-13
• Publisher: Ft Pr

Summary

"Seeds of Destructionis everything that Washington policymaking is not: sober, lucid, reasoned, timely, bipartisan, and constructive." Douglas Holtz-Eakin, President of the American Action Forum and former Director of the Congressional Budget Office (2003-2005) "Glenn Hubbard and Peter Navarro combine their unique experiences in government and politics with their crystal-clear economic insights to produce a lively and compelling account of the origins of the financial crisis and the problems now plaguing the American economy. The book convincingly explains how government policy planted the seeds of destruction and how a change in government policy can root them out and plant the seeds of prosperity. Their diagnoses and remedies should be read, studied carefully, and applied." John B. Taylor, Mary and Robert Raymond Professor of Economics, Stanford University, and former Undersecretary of the Treasury for International Finance "A thoughtful and politically provocative diagnosis of Americars"s economic ills." Kenneth S. Rogoff, coauthor,This Time is Different, and Thomas D. Cabot Professor of Public Policy, Harvard University "This book is a ls"must-readrs" for all persons who are concerned about our economic future. It shows the disastrous folly of our current economic policies and, more important, it lays out the proper policies to achieve a sound and prosperous economic future." John Cogan, Professor at Stanford University and former Deputy Director of the Office of Management and Budget "In this dramatic nonpartisan book, Glenn Hubbard and Peter Navarro lay out the true roots of the current troubles. They then open their hands and show ls"seeds of prosperity,ls" a new set of policies that can, if planted, make the economic garden grow even more dramatically than it did in the past. No pair of authors is more qualified than these to undertake this." From the Foreword by Amity Shlaes, bestselling author ofThe Forgotten Man: A New History of the Great Depression Government policy and the Obama administration are driving the American economy straight toward catastrophe. Now, two respected economistsone a Republican, one a Democratexplain why these policies are so dangerous and offer a bipartisan, common-sense blueprint for reversing Americars"s economic decline. Glenn Hubbard and Peter Navarro explain why sustained growth is the only long-term solution, outline the elements of a vibrant economy, and explain why current policies are failing on every level. They reveal how we can finally restore the critical U.S. manufacturing basehellip;return to our tradition of sound money hellip;transform tax policy into an engine of growth and innovationhellip;save Social Security and Medicare with "tough love"hellip;use market-based solutions to achieve real energy independencehellip;reform antique financial regulations without making matters worse...and balance our burgeoning budget deficits with strong economic growth rather than through punitive taxation. Whatever your politics, if yours"re frightened about the future, you should be. This book shows how we can grab the steering wheel, veer away from the cliff, and build a brighter economic future for everyone. Short-term stimulus, long-term disaster

Author Biography

Glenn Hubbard, Dean of Columbia Business School, served in the Bush White House from February 2001 until March 2003 as the Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers and the OECD’s Economic Policy Committee. He also was the Deputy Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Treasury Department for Tax Analysis from 1991 to 1993. His commentaries appear frequently in the “Nightly Business Report,” “Marketplace,” The Wall Street Journal, and the Financial Times.

¿

Peter Navarro is a business professor at UC Irvine, CNBC contributor, and a widely sought-after speaker. He has appeared on Bloomberg TV and radio, CNN, NPR, and 60 Minutes. His books include Always a Winner and The Coming China Wars. His Web site is www.peternavarro.com.

Table of Contents

Foreword	p. xii
About the Authors	p. xviii
Introduction: The White House Plants Its Seeds of Destruction	p. 1
Getting from Seeds of Destruction to Seeds of Prosperity	p. 7
America's Four Growth Drivers Stall and Our Economy Stagnates	p. 9
The GDP Growth Drivers Equation	p. 11
GDP Growth Has Been Well Below Potential Growth	p. 12
The American Consumer's Roller Coaster	p. 15
Where Has All the Business Investment Gone?	p. 19
There's Too Much Government Spending	p. 21
Net Exports Are a Net Negative	p. 25
Conclusion	p. 27
How to Lift the American Economy with the Ten Levers of Growth	p. 29
Free Markets Free of Corruption and Monopoly Best Promote Growth	p. 29
Free and Fair Trade Helps All Countries Grow	p. 31
Entrepreneurship Is the Linchpin of Long-Term Growth	p. 33
Without Savings, There Can Be No Investment and Growth	p. 34
Without a Stable Banking System and Strong Financial Markets, Savings Can't Be Transformed into Investment	p. 35
Innovation and Technological Change Matter More Than Machines and Workers	p. 36
"Human Capital" Matters as Much as Physical Capital	p. 38
Oil Price Shocks Stunt the Growth of Oil-Import-Dependent Nations	p. 39
A Healthy Nation Is a Productive and Prosperous Nation	p. 40
A Solid Manufacturing Base Makes for a Strong Economy	p. 41
Fixing America's Destructive Duo: Monetary and Fiscal Policy	p. 47
Why an Easy-Money Street Is a Dead End	p. 49
The Return of Fed Activism	p. 52
The Maestro or a Bubble Maker?	p. 53
President Obama Crosses the Activist Rubicon	p. 54
The Road to American Prosperity Cannot Be Paved with a Cheap Dollar	p. 57
Where Have You Gone, William McChesney Martin?	p. 60
Why You Can't Stimulate Your Way to Prosperity	p. 63
From John Maynard Keynes to the Kennedy Tax Cut Revolution	p. 66
Getting the "Big Three" Right: Tax, Trade, and Energy Policy	p. 83
Why Raising Taxes Lowers America's Growth Rate	p. 85
Ideological Gridlock Over Broad-based Tax Reform	p. 88
From a "Class Tax" to a "Mass Tax"	p. 91
From Double Taxation to Double Whammies	p. 93
Income Tax Evolution or Consumption Tax Revolution?	p. 95
Meeting on the Middle Ground	p. 97
Why the Best "Jobs Program" May Be Trade Reform	p. 101
The 2000s: A Decade of Large and Chronic Trade Deficits	p. 103
America's Trade Deficits Cause Inflation and Loss of Political Sovereignty	p. 104
The World's Poster Child for the Modern Protectionist-Mercantilist State	p. 104
China's Great Wall of Protectionism	p. 106
China's Eighteenth Century Mercantilism	p. 111
Why America's Foreign Oil Addiction Stunts Our Growth	p. 125
How Does America's Oil Import Addiction Harm Our Economy? Let Us Count the Ways	p. 128
Risky Business	p. 130
Moving Toward Forging a Political Consensus on Reducing Oil Import Dependency	p. 132
The Smart Path Embraces Both Soft- and Hard-Path Options	p. 133
The Folly of Energy Independence Redux	p. 136
Achieving a Targeted Reduction in Oil Dependence	p. 137
Why This Proposal Has Economic and Political Merit	p. 140
The Thorny Politics of Oil Import Fees	p. 142
Good Politics Usually Makes for Bad Economics	p. 147
Cutting the Gordian Knot of Entitlements	p. 149
The Imperative of an Economic Rather Than Accounting Solution	p. 151
Why Social Security Is Easier to Fix Than Medicare and Medicaid	p. 153
Saving Social Security in Two Easy Pieces	p. 154
Closing the Social Security Spending Gap: What Won't Work	p. 158
Closing the Social Security Spending Gap: What Can Work	p. 161
Forging a Political Consensus	p. 165
Saving Medicare and Medicaid: Mission Impossible?	p. 167
A Flexible and Focused Way Forward	p. 168
Why ObamaCare Makes Our Economy Sick	p. 173
The Big Health Care Picture	p. 174
Are We Getting What We Are Paying For?	p. 176
ObamaCare Puts the Coverage Cart Before the Cost Horse	p. 178
ObamaCare Provides a Far-Too-Sweet Entitlement	p. 180
Truth or Consequences	p. 181
ObamaCare and the Law of Unintended Consequences	p. 183
Toward a More Market-Driven Health Care System	p. 184
What Can Be Done?	p. 191
Conclusion	p. 192
The American Economy at a Crossroads	p. 197
How to Prevent Another Financial Crisis-and Housing Bubble	p. 199
Easy Money	p. 201
Not Enough "Skin in the Game" for American Home Buyers	p. 202
Not Enough "Skin in the Game" for Mortgage Lenders	p. 203
Way-Too-Exotic Mortgages for Borrowers	p. 205
The Mortgage-Backed Securities Meltdown	p. 208
The Collateralized Debt Obligations Credit Rating Debacle	p. 211
A Flawed Insurance Market: Credit Default Swaps	p. 213
Inflexible Bank Capital	p. 216
Too Big to Fail: Last Rites for Financial Dinosaurs	p. 218
A Fragmented and Sectoral Model of Regulation	p. 219
Subsidies for Nonproductive Investment, Taxes for Productive Investment	p. 221
The New Law as the End of the Beginning	p. 222
How to Implement Our Seeds of Prosperity Policy Blueprint	p. 229
Our Seeds of Destruction Problem	p. 230
Our Seeds of Prosperity Solution	p. 231
Conclusion	p. 248
Index	p. 251
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.

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