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First Principles: Five Keys to Restoring America's Prosperity Hardcover – January 23, 2012
| John B. Taylor (Author) Find all the books, read about the author, and more. See search results for this author |
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Leading economist John B. Taylor’s straightforward plan to rebuild America’s economic future by returning to its founding principles.
America’s economic future is uncertain. Mired in a long crippling economic slump and hamstrung by bitter partisan debate over the growing debt and the role of government, the nation faces substantial challenges, exacerbated by a dearth of vision and common sense among its leaders. Prominent Stanford economist John B. Taylor brings his steady voice of reason to the discussion with a natural solution: start with the country’s founding principles of economic and political freedom―limited government, rule of law, strong incentives, reliance on markets, a predictable policy framework―and reconstruct its economic foundation from these proven principles.
Channeling his high-level experience as both a policymaker and researcher, Taylor then zeroes in on current policy issues―the budget, monetary policy, government regulation, tax reform―and lays out in simple terms bold strategies designed to place the country on sound footing in each of these areas.
- Print length240 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherW. W. Norton & Company
- Publication dateJanuary 23, 2012
- Dimensions5.9 x 1 x 8.6 inches
- ISBN-100393073394
- ISBN-13978-0393073393
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The foundational economic principles recognize a role for government in providing public goods such as national defense, maintaining the environment, protecting individual rights and liberties, and creating a social safety net for those who are poor or disabled.102 Kindle readers highlighted this
Highly discretionary policy creates uncertainty and limits the ability of market participants to plan. It also tends to distort market behavior, driving it toward inefficient short-term responses.95 Kindle readers highlighted this
The first step toward a more consistent policy would be to remove the dual mandate and bring the Fed's focus to a single goal. That goal should be price stability.91 Kindle readers highlighted this
Editorial Reviews
Review
― George P. Shultz, former Secretary of State
"John Taylor argues persuasively for a return to the founding principles of our free society―rule of law, predictable government policies, and free markets―and shows how violation of these principles has derailed American prosperity time and again. This book sends a clear and powerful message to everyone searching for a way out of the malaise gripping the nation."
― Gary Becker, University of Chicago, winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics
About the Author
Product details
- Publisher : W. W. Norton & Company; First Edition (January 23, 2012)
- Language : English
- Hardcover : 240 pages
- ISBN-10 : 0393073394
- ISBN-13 : 978-0393073393
- Item Weight : 14.1 ounces
- Dimensions : 5.9 x 1 x 8.6 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #1,342,635 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #452 in Medical Psychology Testing & Measurement
- #916 in Government Management
- #1,331 in Medical Mental Illness
- Customer Reviews:
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About the author

John B. Taylor is the George P. Shultz Senior Fellow in Economics at the Hoover Institution and the Mary and Robert Raymond Professor of Economics at Stanford University. He chairs the Hoover Working Group on Economic Policy and is director of Stanford’s Introductory Economics Center.
Taylor's fields of expertise are monetary policy, fiscal policy, and international economics. His book Getting Off Track was one of the first on the financial crisis; his latest book, First Principles, develops an economic plan to restore America’s prosperity.
Taylor served as senior economist on President Ford's and President Carter’s Council of Economic Advisers, as a member of President George H. W. Bush's Council of Economic Advisers, and as a senior economic adviser to Bob Dole’s presidential campaign, to George W. Bush’s presidential campaign in 2000, and to John McCain’s presidential campaign. He was a member of the Congressional Budget Office's Panel of Economic Advisers from 1995 to 2001. From 2001 to 2005, Taylor served as undersecretary of the Treasury for international affairs where he was responsible for currency markets, international development, for oversight of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, and for coordinating policy with the G-7 and G-20.
Taylor received the Bradley Prize from the Bradley Foundation and the Adam Smith Award from the National Association for Business Economics. He was awarded the Alexander Hamilton Award for his overall leadership at the US Treasury, the Treasury Distinguished Service Award for designing and implementing the currency reforms in Iraq, and the Medal of the Republic of Uruguay for his work in resolving the 2002 financial crisis. At Stanford he was awarded the George P. Shultz Distinguished Public Service Award, as well as the Hoagland Prize and the Rhodes Prize for excellence in undergraduate teaching. He is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the Econometric Society; he formerly served as vice president of the American Economic Association.
Taylor formerly held positions as professor of economics at Princeton University and Columbia University. Taylor received a BA in economics summa cum laude from Princeton University in 1968 and a PhD in economics from Stanford University in 1973.
Customer reviews
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I found the book a strong testament to the principles of Friedman and Hayek. Taylor's First Principles, or Five Keys, are listed and partially expanded in his first chapter: Predictable Policy Framework, Rule of Law, Strong Incentives, Reliance on Markets, and Clearly Limited Role of Government. He expands on the first and last two, but he fails to expand Strong Incentives. He equates these principles to economic freedom, and in turn to economic success.
With these keys established as themes, I expected the book's structure to follow them even though "Incentives" was only partially introduced. The Table of Contents should have warned me otherwise. The book's structure is narrative, describing the how and why of our present economy with heavy emphasis on the role of Keynesian principles and interventions. Prescriptions for solutions are embedded in each narrative chapter. Although Taylor cites economic freedom frequently as motivation, he consistently misses opportunities to reiterate and reinforce, or thread, the five component themes of his title and first chapter into his narrative chapters. (For more on threading themes, go to [...].)
The title of the final paragraph in the last chapter is "What Can Be Done?" This was Taylor's last, and lost, opportunity to return to his five themes. The prescriptive answer to this question is buried in each of the previous narrative chapters. It's a fine book for the narratives that contrast Friedman's and Hayek's principles with Keynes' principles and with current policies. I would have found the book more useful and powerful if Taylor had threaded his themes.
It is clear the Obama camp did not read this book , nor my fellow alumni, the Secretary of the Treasury, and unfortunately for all of us that the Romney team failed to read and comprehend the clear economic logic of this and Mr Taylor's other economic books.
Top reviews from other countries
Taylor is not a fan of Ben Bernanke, by contrast. Had Taylor been appointed as President of NY Fed in 2003 instead of Tim Geithner - which I've elsewhere read was proposed by Alan Greenspan at one point - who knows how things might have turned out differently.








