The 4% Solution: Unleashing the Economic Growth America Needs
| Authors |
George W. Bush James K. Glassman Brendan Miniter W. Michael Cox Richard Alm Robert Lucas, Jr. Edward C. Prescott Steven Gjerstad Vernon L. Smith Kevin Hassett David Malpass Myron Scholes Peter G. Klein Robert Litan Nick Schulz Maria Minniti Carlos Gutierrez Steven F. Hayward Kenneth P. Green Charles Blahous Jason J. Fichtner Eric Hanushek Gary Becker Pia M. Orrenius Madeline Zavodny E. Floyd Kvamme Amity Shlaes Michael Novak |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Publisher | Crown Business |
Publication date | July 17, 2012 |
The 4% Solution: Unleashing the Economic Growth America Needs is a 2012 non-fiction book. Alongside a foreword by President George W. Bush, it features articles from academics and businesspeople, including five winners of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences.
Background
The book is the first one published by the George W. Bush Institute, a think tank located at the George W. Bush Presidential Center on the campus of Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas.[1][2][3][4][5] The foreword is written by George W. Bush, who served as the 43rd President of the United States from 2001 to 2009.[1][3][5] At the end of his presidency, the nation was on its way to a Great Recession due to a downturn in the economy and the financial crisis of 2008.[6] In May 2011, James Glassman, the Founding Executive Director of the George W. Bush Institute, published an article in the National Review calling for free market solutions to the recession, which would lead to four percent growth.[7] Later, the institute decides to publish a full-fledged book about it, and Glassman wrote the introduction.[1] The book was published on July 17, 2012.[1][8]
Promotional efforts
On August 5, 2012, President Bush and James Glassman presented the book at the Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas, Texas.[9] The presentation was broadcast five times on Book TV from August to December 2012.[9]
It was also presented by Amity Shlaes at the Harvard Club of New York.[10]
Moreover, the Philadelphia Media Network published an excerpt by Brendan Miniter, the editor.[11]
It was also promoted by George W. Bush's brother, Jeb Bush, who served as the Governor of Florida from 1999 to 2007.[12] He suggested the book should be used by then presidential candidate Mitt Romney to offer a bold vision for leadership and win the election, instead of simply criticizing President Barack Obama's policies.[12]
Content
The book contains essays by academics and businesspeople, five of which are Nobel Prize-winning economists: Robert Lucas, Gary Becker, Edward Prescott, Vernon Smith and Myron Scholes.[13]
According to a review published in The New York Times, "The ideas in the book include lowering corporate tax rates, shifting away from taxing income to taxing consumption and property, promoting innovation by letting professors keep gains from their research, expanding free-trade pacts with Japan and other countries, refocusing immigration policy to recruit more high-skill workers, and expanding the work force by lowering payroll taxes on employees with children."[6]
Critical reception
In The Daily Beast, Paul Begala admitted that Bush was "right to focus on growth", adding "Growth is the secret sauce."[14]
The Asia Times "agree[d] with the authors of the Bush Institute volume that the entrepreneurial engine can be jump-started" as opposing to "derid[ing]" entrepreneurship as "as in Obama's now infamous "You didn't build that!" gaffe".[15] However, they suggested the book's solutions were "like Pascal's wager".[15] Adding that "economics is more like medicine than rocket science," they suggested that those solutions would have to be tested to know if they would lead to positive results.[15] They concluded that should those solutions not be applied immediately (in 2012), "the medicine may no longer work" four years later (in 2016).[15]
References
- 1 2 3 4 Book Review: “The 4% Solution: Unleashing the Economic Growth America Needs” – George W. Bush Institute, HACER, August 15, 2012
- ↑ George W. Bush promotes economic ideas in new book, WAFF, July 15, 2012
- 1 2 Associated Press, Low taxes, reform immigration and cut government spending: Bush book tells U.S. how to solve country's economic woes, The Daily Mail, July 17, 2012
- ↑ Jamie Stengle, Bush institute launches book on economic growth, Lubbock Avalanche-Journal, July 18, 2012
- 1 2 Sonia Smith, George W. Bush's Armchair Economic Advice, Texas Monthly, July 17, 2012
- 1 2 Peter Baker, Enlisting Economists, Bush Adds Book to Fiscal Debate, The New York Times, July 14, 2012
- ↑ James K. Glassman, The 4 Percent Solution, National Review, May 02, 2011
- ↑ Texas PolicyCast: The 4% Solution, Texas Public Policy Foundation, July 19, 2012
- 1 2 "Book Discussion on The 4% Solution". C-SPAN. 17 July 2012. Retrieved 26 April 2015.
Contributors to The 4% Solution lay out a plan to achieve a four percent economic growth rate, which they argue is necessary to restore America’s economic health. The discussion was moderated by James Glassmen, executive director of the George W. Bush Institute, which put out the book. President George W. Bush, who wrote the foreword to the book, made opening remarks. This book launch event was held at the Old Parkland Hospital in Dallas.
- ↑ William McGurn, The 4% Solution, Ricochet, July 27, 2012
- ↑ Brendan Miniter, The 4% Solution: Reaching potential through growth, Philly.com, July 15, 2012
- 1 2 Michael Noer, Jeb Bush: We Must Grow Out of Our Economic Crisis, Forbes, August 02, 2012
- ↑ Charles Blahous, Jason J. Fichtner , The 4% Solution, Mercatus Center, July 02, 2012
- ↑ Paul Begala, Paul Begala on George W. Bush’s Very Bad Economic Advice, The Daily Beast, July 29, 2012
- 1 2 3 4 Spengler, The Bush Institute bells the cat, Asia Times, August 1, 2012