About this episode
TV-UNhttp://www.americanprogress.org/events/2009/01/tyrannyca.html Matt Miller, host of KCRW's "Left, Right & Center" and a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, discusses his provocative new book, The Tyranny of Dead Ideas, in which he lays bare the greatest threat to our economic future: the things we think we know – but don't with New York Times columnist David Brooks. America is at a crossroads. In the face of global competition and rapid technological change, our economy is about to face its most severe test in nearly a century - one that will make the recent turmoil in the financial system look like a modest setback by comparison. Yet our leaders have failed to prepare us for what lies ahead because they are in the grip of a set of "dead ideas" about how a modern economy should work. They wrongly believe that: * Our kids will earn more than we do * Free trade is always good, no matter who gets hurt * Employers should be responsible for health coverage * Taxes hurt the economy * Schools are a local matter * Money follows merit These ways of thinking—dubious at best and often dead wrong—are on a collision course with economic developments that are irreversible. In The Tyranny of Dead Ideas, Matt Miller offers a unique blend of insights from history, psychology, and economics to illuminate where today’s destructive conventional wisdom came from and how it holds our country back. He also introduces us to a new way of thinking - what he calls "tomorrow's destined ideas" - that can reinvigorate our economy, our politics, and our day-to-day lives. These destined ideas may seem counterintuitive now, but they will coalesce in the coming years in ways that will transform American capitalism and democracy for the 21st century.
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Category
News & Politics -
Release Date
Jan 14, 2009
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Runtime
05:58
