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 spend-ing 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 success-ful 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.
【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
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