The New American Economy

October 15, 2009
In this provocative work, Bartlett ("Imposter: How George W. Bush Bankrupted America and Betrayed the Reagan Legacy"), former domestic policy adviser to President Reagan, describes his role in the formulation of supply-side economics, which espoused tax cuts as the way to restart the troubled American economy. With the current economy echoing that of the 1980s, he might be expected to call for more tax cuts. Instead, he appeals for reconsideration of the long-unfashionable theories of British economist John Maynard Keynes, who believed that governments should temporarily spend their way out of economic deflation, even if it meant rising budget deficits in the shorter term. Bartlett endorses the adoption of the recent economic stimulus package. But he remains worried about mounting public and private debt and, to help the government raise revenue, proposes a value-added tax (VAT) like that in Europe. VERDICT Bartlett could have ignited an ideological fight, but to his creditand regardless of one's response to his conclusionsone can only applaud his persuasive and respectful manner. Though the book could have benefited from a general glossary, it is a significant work for any serious student of economics and perhaps the best general reference for anyone wanting a sober retrospective on the Keynesian phenomenon.Richard Drezen, Brooklyn, NY

Copyright 2009 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

October 1, 2009
Bartlett was a domestic policy adviser to Ronald Reagan and one of the engineers of Reaganomics, the supply-side economic theory that was successfully applied in the early 1980s to stimulate growth and bring inflation under control by lowering income taxes. Conservatives have clung to this theory ever since, but Bartlett came out in 2006 stating that the George W. Bush tax cuts alone were not successful and that supply-side economics had reached the end of its useful life; he has been treated as a pariah by the GOP ever since. In the midst of the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression, he warns that the explosion of national debt and growth of entitlement programs caused by the aging baby boomer population foreshadow yet another serious fiscal calamity ahead. Bartlett has had to concede the unpopular view that higher taxes will be inevitable, and makes the case that a value added tax (VAT), something like a national sales tax, may be the only way to generate the revenue that will be required to keep this ship afloat.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2009, American Library Association.)