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Book Review
Jonathan Shapiro on ‘The Tyranny of Dead Ideas’

By Jonathan Shapiro

Matt Miller is a one-man economic stimulus package.

His ambitious new book, “The Tyranny of Dead Ideas: Letting Go of the Old Ways of Thinking to Unleash a New Prosperity,” has more intriguing proposals packed into it than might be found in a month of congressional debates. Whatever the book lacks in deep analysis, it more than makes up for in intellectual honesty and courage. Miller acknowledges that our problems are vast and systemic and, thus, the solutions will not come in half measures. Yet most refuse to admit it.
“America’s economy is about to face its most severe test in nearly a century … [yet] our business and political leaders are doing next to nothing to prepaThe proof is in their actions. Bailing out banks or the auto industry and spending billions in federal funds to create jobs may stave off insolvency and curtail unemployment, but these are fundamentally short-term responses to long-term problems. Even more worrying, such actions prove that our leaders continue to rely on old economic models that are no longer viable or even relevant.

The first step, Miller argues, is to recognize that “our entire economic and political culture remains in thrall to a set of `Dead Ideas’ about how a modern economy should work.”

The problem is not in the stars, or even our institutions, but rather in our heads. Because we have failed to grasp how the world’s economy has changed in the last 20 years, our systems of education, resource allocation and public policy have failed to serve our needs.

Miller lists the dead ideas that cloud our thinking:

While current thinking about the American economy is hardly monolithic, the individuals who occupy its most influential positions subscribe to certain key premises:

our children will earn more than we do
free trade is “good” no matter how many people it hurts
employees should play a central role in the provision of health coverage
taxes hurt the economy
“local control” of schools is essential
people tend to end up, in economic terms, where they deserve to
... And therein lies the dilemma: from the halls of government to the executive suite, from the corner store to the factory floor, Americans are in the grip of a set of ideas that are not only dubious or dead wrong—they’re on a collision course with social and economic developments that are now irreversible.

To see long excerpts from “The Tyranny of Dead Ideas,” click here.

In this allegedly bipartisan age, where good ideas are supposed to trump ideology and politics, Miller is precisely the type of thinker we need. Smart, independent and reformist, Miller plays center in KCRW’s “Left, Right & Center” with élan.

Radically centrist, Miller is a reformer in the tradition of Richard Hofstadter. Sworn to no party, his only allegiance is to smart, effective business and government. If only the nation hired philosopher-kings, Miller would never be out of a job. And we would all be better for it.

This is not to suggest Miller merely embraces change for its own sake. Miller’s hoped-for return to old-fashioned values, harkening to a time when America used the stocks instead of investing in them, makes good sense. Bringing Puritan principles to bear on Wall Street would have served us well. How much better it would have been for the directors of AIG, hedge funds or banks to be governed by notions of thrift, moderation and humility.

Nor does Miller pretend to have all the answers. His gift is to ask the big questions:

“Why are business leaders afraid or unwilling to say that we need government to play a bigger role in health care? How can top officials and their advisors call constantly for tax cuts when trillions in unpaid bills are coming due? Why do politicians pledge to ‘leave no child behind’ while overseeing public school systems that systematically assign the worst teachers and most rundown facilities to the poor children who need great schools the most? Why do free trade losers get only lip service from those elected representatives who say that workers are getting the shaft?”'
Lees verder: http://www.truthdig.com/arts_culture/item/20090327_jonathan_shapiro_on_the_tyranny_of_dead_ideas/