Better, Stronger, Faster: The Myth of American Decline . . . and the Rise of a New Economy [Kindle Edition]

Daniel Gross (Author)

Book Description

Financial meltdown, a deep recession, and political polarization—combined with strong growth outside the United States—have led to a global bubble of pessimism surrounding America’s economic prospects. Bloated with debt, and outpaced by China and other emerging markets, the United States has been left for dead as an economic force. But in this time of grim predictions, Daniel Gross, Yahoo! financial columnist and author of Dumb Money, offers a refreshingly optimistic take on our nation’s economic prospects, examining the positive trends that point to a better, stronger future.

Widely respected for his Newsweek and Slate coverage of the crash and the recovery, Daniel Gross shows that much of the talk about decline is misplaced. In the wake of the crash, rather than accept the inevitability of a Japan-style lost decade, America’s businesses and institutions tapped into the very strengths that built the nation’s economy into a global powerhouse in the first place: speed, ingenuity, adaptability, pragmatism, entrepreneurship, and, most significant, an ability to engage with the world. As the United States wallowed in self-pity, the world continued to see promise in what America has to offer—buying exports, investing in the United States, and adopting American companies and business models as their own. Global growth, it turns out, is not a zero-sum game.

Better, Stronger, Faster is an account of the remarkable reconstruction and reorientation that started in March 2009, a period that Gross compares to March 1933—as both marked the start of unexpected recoveries. As the U.S. public sector undertook aggressive fiscal and monetary actions, the private sector sprang into action. Companies large and small restructured, tapped into long-dormant internal resources, and invested for growth, at home and abroad. Between 2009 and 2011, as Europe struggled with a cascade of crises, the U.S. got back on its feet—and began to run.

Through stories of innovative solutions devised by policy makers, businesses, investors, and consumers, Gross explains how America has the potential to emerge from this period, not as the unrivaled ruler of the global economy but as a healthier leader and an enabler of sustainable growth.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Daniel Gross is one of the smartest, toughest, and most skeptical business writers around. If he says sunny days are ahead, we should all believe him. This book is not just well written and chockablock with new insights and information, it's amusing." --Jonathan Alter, author of The Promise and columnist for Bloomberg View

"Yes, the United States took a huge hit from economic crisis, but talk of its long-run decline is overdone and premature. In Better, Stronger, Faster, Daniel Gross rebuts the the declinists and documents the enduring strengths that power America's ability to transform and reset itself in dynamic ways. The United States is poised to emerge from the crisis in better shape than any of its commonly touted old and new competitors." --Richard Florida, author of The Great Reset and The Rise of the Creative Class, Revisited, and director of the University of Toronto's Martin Prosperity Institute

“Daniel Gross is an author and journalist who is not afraid to challenge the conventional wisdom. His latest book does this with tremendous style, by directly attacking the ‘America is doomed’ camp, to paint a portrait of America that is far more vibrant than critics usually acknowledge. Not everyone will agree with this account, least of all in an election year; however, it should be required reading for anybody who wants to understand the current state of the American recovery—and the country's place in a fast-changing world." —Gillian Tett, U.S. managing editor, Financial Times, and author of Fool’s Gold

"Gross comes along now with the counterintuitive view that America is not in decline after all. He confronts the conventional wisdom of 'declinism' with a robust mix of statistics and argument, and offers us reasons to be more cheerful about the state of American economy than we have allowed ourselves to be." --Tina Brown, Newsweek

Review

"Daniel Gross is one of the smartest, toughest, and most skeptical business writers around. If he says sunny days are ahead, we should all believe him. This book is not just well written and chockablock with new insights and information, it's amusing." --Jonathan Alter, author of The Promise and columnist for Bloomberg View

"Yes, the United States took a huge hit from economic crisis, but talk of its long-run decline is overdone and premature. In Better, Stronger, Faster, Daniel Gross rebuts the the declinists and documents the enduring strengths that power America's ability to transform and reset itself in dynamic ways. The United States is poised to emerge from the crisis in better shape than any of its commonly touted old and new competitors." --Richard Florida, author of The Great Reset and The Rise of the Creative Class, Revisited, and director of the University of Toronto's Martin Prosperity Institute

“Daniel Gross is an author and journalist who is not afraid to challenge the conventional wisdom. His latest book does this with tremendous style, by directly attacking the ‘America is doomed’ camp, to paint a portrait of America that is far more vibrant than critics usually acknowledge. Not everyone will agree with this account, least of all in an election year; however, it should be required reading for anybody who wants to understand the current state of the American recovery—and the country's place in a fast-changing world." —Gillian Tett, U.S. managing editor, Financial Times, and author of Fool’s Gold

"Gross comes along now with the counterintuitive view that America is not in decline after all. He confronts the conventional wisdom of 'declinism' with a robust mix of statistics and argument, and offers us reasons to be more cheerful about the state of American economy than we have allowed ourselves to be." --Tina Brown, Newsweek

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• File Size: 1185 KB
• Print Length: 272 pages
• Publisher: Free Press (May 8, 2012)
• Sold by: Simon and Schuster Digital Sales Inc
• Language: English
• ASIN: B004T4KXQ4
• Text-to-Speech: Not enabled
• X-Ray: Not Enabled
• Lending: Not Enabled
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #373,915 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars Worse, weaker, slower September 9, 2012

By Edward Durney VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

I picked Daniel Gross's book Better, Stronger, Faster off the shelf, flipped a few pages, and started reading about the TARP (Troubled Asset Relief Program) that was passed by Congress in 2008. I thought Daniel Gross did a good job writing about how that played out. A good summary of the facts. Reasonable analysis. So I got the book and brought it home to read from start to end.

My favorable first impressions fizzled. Daniel Gross writes fairly well, but in a style that channels Tom Friedman. It's a style that has never appealed to me--the author tells a story to capture your interest, and then draws conclusions and ideas from the story to build on his or her argument. Evidence by anecdote (often a personal one). Ignoring the admonition that the plural of anecdote is not data, the author can justify just about anything in this way. And that is what Daniel Gross does.

Some of what Daniel Gross says is shocking. Not that what he says is particularly important. But I had to wonder how he could believe some of these things. One example: on page 206 he talks about the 250,000 men of the Civilian Conservation Corps working in the summer of 1933. "They planted 3 billion trees, build eight hundred state parks, and saved the nation's topsoil." That's ridiculous. They didn't save the nation's topsoil. But Daniel Gross says things like that all the time.

Some of what Daniel Gross says is inane. He tells about his trips to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. He tells about his family's trip to Hawaii. He tells about his travels to various places around the world. Not that one cannot improve one's perspective by travel. But for me, the tales of travel were too much. One example: Daniel Gross has to tell us about the party Google sponsored at Davos (which he has attended ever since Google started throwing it in 2005), and how he thought David Gergen made a fool of himself with his dancing. So? No need to name drop. It cheapens your ideas. But Daniel Gross does it, a lot.

Some of what Daniel Gross says is partisan. He summarizes what he thinks should be policy by trotting out the usual Democratic issues, from books by Bill Clinton and Tom Friedman. Of course, that Democratic agenda "that gets heads nodding in assent at events hosted by Washington think tanks" would save the country, but they will never happen because of "the general unwillingness of the current Republican party to engage in large-scale, forward-looking legislation that doesn't involve massive tax cuts for the rich."

In short, I didn't like this book. Not because I am a Republican. (I'm not.) But because I think there's little thought here. There's promise in what Daniel Gross chooses to write about. Unfortunately, the promise is not kept. The book never goes anywhere.

That said, this book is much, much better than the partisan diatribes by people like Ann Coulter and Al Franken. Daniel Gross does much better than they do. Still, I can't recommend the book. Frankly, I wish I had just thumbed through it and then put it back down.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars The good and the bad. January 11, 2013

By William H. Prindle

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

The first 135-140 pages are worth the price. A great reminder what America is. The rest goes to the dark side and is worthless.

10 of 15 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars Myth of American decline doesn't work June 3, 2012

By Gderf

Format:Kindle Edition

There's a good history of TARP and private corporate history of 2008 especially Citi.

Gross misses the primary factors in American decline over the past half century, particularly the burden on American labor that renders our products uncompetitive no matter much the dollar is devalued. He ignores our permanently negative trade balance and decline in the dollar which is a better indicator than anything Gross analyzes. He ignores the Green anti energy and anti nuclear lobbies. He observes but minimizes migration of jobs to Asia. He ignores the long term drag on the economy of consumer and student debt. He denigrates 'declinism' by writers such as Peter Schiff, Naill Ferguson, Kenneth Rogoff, George Wills and (strangely) Joseph Stiglitz. Actually, reading any of the above will convince the reader of the feebleness of Gross's analysis. He uses really stupid metaphors for the economy, including the muscles of Tim Tebow and the 6 million dollar man.

Gross seems to take comfort in the idea that others are currently doing worse than we are, for example France Spain and Greece and Japan, where there are 100 suicides a day. He describes anecdotal success stories of Big Belly Solar trash compactors, EnerNOC, Boeing exports to Qatar and others. However, projection to the American economy doesn't work as there are two failures for every success. Ironically, he cites banking improvement, including JP Morgan Chase before the latest debacle.

FDI is a two edged sword. Foreigners see opportunity, but it exposes current account deficits.
Chinese and Canadian purchases imply loss of earnings for US corporations and economy. Gross cites increasing exports while failing to cite imports, which are increasing faster. His logic appears to be something like 1-2=1. He cleverly cites iNports rather than an analysis of imports.

Gross is hopeful of energy Independence via domestic oil and coal sources especially with fracking. He fails to cite the massive Green lobby opposition to fracking with, at best, huge litigation costs and slowdown of potential benefits. He points to North Dakota as developing jobs, largely due to new sources of oil via fracking. Good luck getting Californians and NYers to move. He fails to observe the powerful Green lobby opposition to fracking that will slow growth. Clever malapropisms like 'reshoring' and 'insourcing' and 'inports' won't change the migration of jobs out of the USA.

We retain a lead in innovation, but have lost the capacity to benefit from it for economic growth. Chinese companies now buy American innovation as it turns profitable. We have been doomed since about 1965. Our government will continue to print money as the easy way out of trouble until the bubble bursts with bankruptcy or worse. 'Doom and gloomers', like Schiff, generally predict that the American economy is becoming unglued and bad times are coming as our government continues to overspend and devalue the dollar, with no end in sight. Their arguments are much more cogent than anything in this book. Gross' wishful thinking is patriotic, but not very convincing. The conclusion is full of if onlys, starting with if only we could put our financial house in order. What on earth makes him think that such a thing is likely or even possible? After reading this book, I am more convinced than ever of the opposite. The 'doom and gloomers' are the ones who have it right.

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