10 Smart Books: Our Staff's Latest Picks

How Our Government Built America, and Why It Must Rebuild Now

Author: Felix Rohatyn
Reviewed by: Robert J. Hughes

Americans have debated government's role in the economy since our founding, but if we look at the history of public works in the U.S. we'll be equipped to weather the current fiscal crisis, Felix Rohatyn argues in his compelling new book. You may remember the mid-1970s headline, "FORD TO CITY: DROP DEAD," when New York was on the verge of bankruptcy. Rohatyn certainly does. As a government official at the time, he helped rescue the beleaguered city's finances. Rohatyn writes that renewed prosperity depends on government initiatives to rebuild roads and bridges, schools and hospitals, ports and dams, water, sewer, and electric lines. He gives a history of 10 of the nation's largest public endeavors such as the Erie Canal and the Homestead Act to show that, despite opposition, these projects benefited the U.S. Everyone knows the Louisiana Purchase doubled America's size, for example, but it also strengthened our credit in international financial markets. For someone in finance, Rohatyn writes lucid, accessible prose. Even those fretful over "nationalization" might find this a thought-provoking look at how and when government should step in.