Matt Miller, host of KCRW’s "Left, Right & Center" and a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, will discuss 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.
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.
Copies of The Tyranny of Dead Ideas will be available for purchase at the event.
Featured Author:
Matt Miller, senior fellow, Center for American Progress; author, The Tyranny of Dead Ideas