Description
Book SynopsisJansson documents how presidents from FDR to Clinton have made ill-advised choices that squandered trillions of dollars. Using Office of Management and Budget projections through 2004, Jansson shows how the madness continues-and how an informed electorate can put an end to it.
Trade ReviewThis isn't a polemical book, it's a somber one that makes you realize how routinely we've come to mistake absurd polemics for common sense. -- Paul Rosenberg Denver Post Jansson's analysis is persuasive on several points... will surely fuel additional interest. -- A. Scott Henderson, Furman University The Historian Provides a systematic, informative, and suprisingly absorbing survey...yields important insights. -- Mark H. Leff, University of Illinois--Urbana Journal of American History Jansson is able to critically juxtapose the Bush and Clinton presidencies of the late 1980s and 1990s, sharing compelling comparisons of various budgetary considerations...The Sixteen-Trillion-Dollar Mistake is an excellent source concerning the ongoing evolution of social policy in the United States, and the multiple political forces that can drive policy resource provision and implementation. -- David Woody, University of Texas at Arlington The Social Policy Journal There is no other book quite like this... It could hardly appear at a better time... Jansson writes lucidly and at times with some panache... Breaks new ground. Virginia Quarterly Review [A] lucid, remarkably flowing, critical history of American government spending and national priorities from 1932 to the present. Publishers Weekly (starred review)
Table of ContentsPreface 1. Failed National Priorities from FDR to Clinton 2. Roosevelt as Magician 3. Roosevelt's Dilemma 4. The Conservatives' Revenge 5. Truman's Nightmare 6. Truman's Bombshells 7. Eisenhower's Ambivalence and Kennedy's Obsession 8. Johnson's Policy Gluttony 9. Nixon's Megalomania 10. Reagan's Fantasies 11. Reagan's Gordian Knot 12. Bush's Myopia 13. Clinton as Backpedaler and Counterpuncher 14. Clinton Boxes with Reagan's Shadow 15. On the Magnitude of Failed National Priorities Notes Collections, Oral Histories, Interviews Bibliography Index
