Malce imam težav s prevodom naslova brilijantne nove knjige Stephena Cohena in Brada DeLonga “Concrete Economics: The Hamilton Approach to Economic Growth and Policy“: dobesedno “Betonska ekonomija” ali “Konkretna ekonomija”? Oboje namreč zelo dobro ustreza vsebini knjige. Cohen in DeLong izvrstno opišeta pragmatični odnos ZDA do spodbujanja gospodarstva skozi zgodovino – od Hamiltona, prek Lincolna do Roosevelta. Ko ni bila pomembna ideologija, pač pa ekonomska politika, ki bi naj čim bolj delovala v korist ljudi. Z gradnjo javne infratsrukture (beton) in s pragmatičnim neideološkim pristopom (konkretna politika).

Cohen in DeLong pravita, da tudi današnja ujetost v past nizke rasti in trepetanje pred sekularno stagnacijo (zaustavitvijo dolgoročne rasti na nizki ravni), pred katero – vsak iz svojega zornega kota – svarita Larry Summers in Robert Gordon, ne bi bila problematična, če bi se ameriška politika izognila ideologiji in namesto tega uporabila recepte iz zgodovine. Torej uporabila državni proračun za javno financiranje nujno potrebnih naložb v infrastrukturo in človeški kapital. Kajti samo to prek povečanja produktivnosti dviguje dolgoročni trend rasti (potencialni output), medtem ko na kratek rok rešuje problem prenizkega agregatnega povpraševanja.

To bi moral biti MUST READ za vsakega ameriškega in evropskega politika. Vsakemu politiku bi morali davkoplačevalci in državljani podariti to knjigo. Da se politiki zavedo, da so v službi ljudi (in ne ideologije ali parcialnih interesov elit) ter kako so njihovi predniki pristopali k reševanju enakih problemov.

Da se ne matram preveč, spodaj je kratek povzetek knjige v originalu, na Amazonu pa je seveda dostopna Kindle verzija.

History, not ideology, holds the key to growth. Brilliantly written and argued, “Concrete Economics” shows how government has repeatedly reshaped the American economy ever since Alexander Hamilton’s first, foundational redesign. This book does not rehash the sturdy and long-accepted arguments that to thrive, entrepreneurial economies need a broad range of freedoms. Instead, Steve Cohen and Brad DeLong remedy our national amnesia about how our economy has actually grown and the role government has played in redesigning and reinvigorating it throughout our history.

The government not only sets the ground rules for entrepreneurial activity but directs the surges of energy that mark a vibrant economy. This is as true for present-day Silicon Valley as it was for New England manufacturing at the dawn of the nineteenth century.

The authors’ argument is not one based on abstract ideas, arcane discoveries, or complex correlations. Instead it is based on the facts–facts that were once well known but that have been obscured in a fog of ideology–of how the US economy benefited from a pragmatic government approach to succeed so brilliantly. Understanding how our economy has grown in the past provides a blueprint for how we might again redesign and reinvigorate it today, for such a redesign is sorely needed.

Vir: Harvard Business Review