Jacob Hacker’s New Book “American Amnesia” Just Released

(Updated April 18, 2016)

ISPS Director Jacob Hacker and co-author Paul Pierson have just released their new book, “American Amnesia: How How the War on Government Led Us to Forget What Made America Prosper” (Simon & Schuster).

This timely and topical book is a vigorous defense of government¹s essential role in advancing our health, wealth, and well-being. To get and keep prosperity, the authors argue, you need strong effective government as well as dynamic competitive markets. You need, in a phrase, a “mixed economy” in which the strong thumb of government and nimble fingers of the market each play a vital role. They show that Adam Smith and all of the leading Founders – Hamilton, Madison, even Jefferson – understood how vital effective public authority is. And they show that it was precisely because the United States created a mixed economy roughly a century ago that we escaped the widespread poverty, bad health, and limited education of our ancestors. What made these successful policies possible, they argue, was a broad political coalition that included Republicans and major segments of the business community. Unfortunately, this coalition has unraveled, and our society is paying the price – falling behind the pace of social improvement not just of our own past, but also of other affluent democracies today. Nonetheless, they argue, the mixed economy can be reconstituted for a new century with the right political and economic reforms and, perhaps even more important, with a renewed understanding of how vital a strong effective government is to long-term prosperity.

Related writings:

Jacob S. Hacker and Paul Pierson, Don’t Get Mad at the IRS on Tax Day, Pray for It to Get More Powerful, LA Times, April 15, 2015

Jacob S. Hacker and Paul Pierson, Why Trump Can’t Break the GOP, The New York Times, April 2, 2016

Jacob S. Hacker and Paul Pierson, Why Technological Innovation Relies on Government Support, The Atlantic, March 28, 2016

Jacob S. Hacker and Paul Pierson, Making America Great Again: The Case for the Mixed Economy, Foreign Affairs, March 21, 2016

Interviews and discussions in the media: