The Comeback
How Innovation Will Restore the American Dream
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- $6.99
Publisher Description
America seems to be on a downward slide. Our government spends too much, our economy creates too little, and we aren't preparing our children to compete in a global marketplace. Yet our politicians—Republican and Democrat alike—just don't get it. While once-great cities fall into decay, Washington thrives, living off the hard work and tax dollars of the private sector. It's time for an American comeback—and it starts with innovation.
Throughout its history, America's great innovators have been the drivers of our unsurpassed economic success. American innovation transformed a country of ragtag farmers into the epicenter of the world's technological progress. Innovation creates jobs, markets, and new industries where none existed before. Most importantly, innovation moves us forward as a nation, pushing us to succeed and strive for a better tomorrow. In short, innovation is the American Dream. In The Comeback, Gary Shapiro shows us how to return innovation to its rightful place at the center of America's economic policy. The Comeback is a new blueprint for America's success.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
As head of the Consumer Electronics Association, first time author Shapiro might be described as a high-tech lobbyist, but readers hoping to learn about the latest innovations in the tech world are in for a disappointment. This is a book about policy, not technology, from an unabashed proponent of the conservative agenda. Shapiro begins with a fascinating personal anecdote from July 2008. He was in Qingdao, China when his Chinese counterpart, circumventing the tedious translation process, used a thumbs up-thumbs down gesture and said, in English, "China going up...U.S. going down." After initial outrage, Shapiro has come to agree. His prescription for success includes tried-and-true Republican remedies like curtailing the power of government and lowering corporate taxes. He opposes unemployment payments extension, subsidies of state liabilities, and "every increase in public pensions, Medicare, Social Security, and prescription drug and health-care coverage." Not only does he advocate raising the age of Social Security eligibility, but also instituting a means test. While his reflections on the introduction of digital technology are interesting, for the rest: caveat emptor.
