17 January 2012

Book Review: President Clinton's Back To Work: Why We Need Smart Government For A Strong Economy



In President Bill Clinton's latest book, Back to Work: Why We Need Smart Government For a Strong Economy, he gives us his views on the challenges facing the United States today and why smart government and smart business matter—presenting his ideas on restoring economic growth, job creation, financial responsibility, resolving the mortgage crisis, and pursuing a strategy to get us "back in the future business.” 

He explains how we got into the current economic crisis, and offers specific recommendations on how we can put people back to work, increase bank lending and corporate investment, double our exports, restore our manufacturing base, and create new businesses. He also discusses green technology, saying that changing the way we produce and consume energy is the strategy most likely to spark a fast-growing economy while enhancing national security.


President Bill Clinton shares generous amounts of data for our background. Two graphs from the New York Times from the book are also included in this article for reference: The Debt Crisis & Budget Projections and Realities.
He also includes graphs showing the US ranks 24th in World Economic Forum Quality of Infrastructure; the US spends only 1.7% of GDP on infrastructure, compared with 4% for Canada and 9% for China. Another graph shows the US ranking 15th in Information Technology & Innovation Foundation broadband rankings, with South Korea being #1.
As a person who has created and run many international business initiatives, one of the most important things is to educate people on the facts so they can make the right business decisions.

Have you ever been part of a business or organization where people were making business decisions on the wrong or incorrect facts? I've seen this many times and worked to correct it, but sometimes you can't always blame that person. As President Clinton states in his book, people are very busy running their own lives and trying to make ends meet - this is the same in Business and in Politics.

I say that it's up to us as good business and societal leaders to gain the correct facts and help inform and help the Organization/Country as a whole make better decisions.
It's important to look at the facts and not just the politics, and the Political Party doesn't matter. Every single person is important and can provide a positive impact on our society.
After you see the facts (not only political opinion), you will understand the circumstances much better in order to get closer to identifying the real problems and opportunities.....Bill Clinton mentions several opportunities and suggestions and some are in the first Infographic in this article.

He has a full Chapter called 'How Do We Get Back to the Future Business' and details this in step-by-step- format along with some history. Some of these include: how we need to 'end the mortgage mess as quickly as possible', 'let people with government-guaranteed mortgages who aren't delinquent refinance their mortgages at the current low rate', 'the Federal Reserve should give the banks an incentive to lend', 'give Corporations incentives to bring more money back to the United States', 'let Companies repatriate the cash now with no tax liability if it's reinvested to create new jobs', 'pass Obama's payroll tax cuts', 'build a 21st century infrastructure' , 'reinstate the full tax credit for new green technology jobs', 'finish the smart grid', increase geothermal energy', 'keep tax credits for buying electric and hybrid vehicles', 'concentrate on high-end manufacturing and getting smaller companies into exports', and 'insource jobs we've been outsourcing'.

I highly recommend you read President Bill Clinton's Back To Work Book, especially now when US and International Voters need to have as much knowledge as possible in order to make the right voting decisions and get people back to work. I agree with President Bill Clinton that we can have both smart government and smart business working in unison. 



What are you doing to get people back to work?
As a business owner, I have done several things including:
- A Jobs Board on this Clean Tech & Green Business News Website
- Partnering with Several Business Owners to Sell Their Products & Services via Green Star Solution, Gratitude Gourmet, and California Luxury.

Share the ways you're trying to get people back to work by:
- Commenting on this Blog Post, 

- Tweeting me @MaryVincent
- And letting us know on Facebook.

Other Clean Tech and Green Business News Articles Featuring Bill Clinton:
1. Bill Clinton's Earth Day Speech at Fortune Brainstorm Green 2009
2. Bill Clinton speaking on Climate Change at Dreamforce 2010
3. Bill Clinton speaking on Climate Change at RSA San Francisco 2011