The Tyranny of Dead Ideas: Revolutionary Thinking for a New Age of Prosperity

America is at a crossroads. The global economic downturn that began in 2008 has laid bare the structural weakness of our economy, putting the country through its most severe test since the Great Depression. Yet our political and business leaders have failed to prepare us because they are in the grip of a set of “dead ideas” about how a modern economy should work. Even the proponents of “change” in the Obama administration remain tentative in pushing the boundaries of the conventional wisdom.

But as Matt Miller shows in this provocative and influential analysis, the American economy will turn the corner only if we move beyond these outdated ways of thinking and recognize the ascendance of a new set of “destined ideas” that will reinvigorate our economy, our politics, and our day-to-day lives. And in a new preface, Miller shows how todays financial crisis has finally stripped these dead ideas of their power, offering hope for a durable recovery.

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, a leading political and business thinker, identifies the greatest threat to our economic future: the things we think we know—but dont. Miller offers a unique blend of insights from history, psychology, and economics to illuminate where todays 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 "tomorrows 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 America.

A strikingly original assessment of our current dilemma and an indispensable guide to our future, Millers provocative and path-breaking book reveals why it is urgent that we break the tyranny of dead ideas, for it is only by doing so that we can move beyond the limits of todays obsolete debates and reinvent American capitalism and democracy for the twenty-first century.

America is at a crossroads. The global economic downturn that began in 2008 has laid bare the structural weakness of our economy, putting the country through its most severe test since the Great Depression. Yet our political and business leaders have failed to prepare us because they are in the grip of a set of “dead ideas” about how a modern economy should work. Even the proponents of “change” in the Obama administration remain tentative in pushing the boundaries of the conventional wisdom.

But as Matt Miller shows in this provocative and influential analysis, the American economy will turn the corner only if we move beyond these outdated ways of thinking and recognize the ascendance of a new set of “destined ideas” that will reinvigorate our economy, our politics, and our day-to-day lives. And in a new preface, Miller shows how todays financial crisis has finally stripped these dead ideas of their power, offering hope for a durable recovery.

America is at a crossroads. The global economic downturn that began in 2008 has laid bare the structural weakness of our economy, putting the country through its most severe test since the Great Depression. Yet our political and business leaders have failed to prepare us because they are in the grip of a set of “dead ideas” about how a modern economy should work. Even the proponents of “change” in the Obama administration remain tentative in pushing the boundaries of the conventional wisdom.

But as Matt Miller shows in this provocative and influential analysis, the American economy will turn the corner only if we move beyond these outdated ways of thinking and recognize the ascendance of a new set of “destined ideas” that will reinvigorate our economy, our politics, and our day-to-day lives. And in a new preface, Miller shows how todays financial crisis has finally stripped these dead ideas of their power, offering hope for a durable recovery.