Economic Policies in the United States, Social Policy by Region, Governmental Finances & Fiscal Policies, U.S. Politics - Campaigns & Elections

The Two Percent Solution

Name: The Two Percent Solution
Author: Matthew Miller
ISBN: 9781586481582

by Matthew Miller

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Overview

A revolutionary program for fixing America 's most serious domestic problems for just two cents on the national dollar—while we still can.

Suppose someone told you that for just two cents on the national dollar we could have a country where everyone had health insurance, full-time workers earned a living wage, poor children had great teachers in fixed-up schools, and politicians no longer had to grovel to wealthy donors. And suppose that when we were done, government would still be smaller than it was when Ronald Reagan was president. If you're like most people, you'd probably think that for two cents on the dollar this sounds like an intriguing deal. But 2 percent of America's GDP is more than $200 billion a year—way beyond what politicians in Washington think is possible.

Between our proper intuition that 2 percent is a small amount, and the Washington consensus that a 2 percent shift in priorities is beyond imagining, lies the opportunity to transform American politics. In this agenda-setting book, Matthew Miller challenges our country (and those who would lead it) to change the way we think about our public responsibilities before the baby boomers' retirement siphons all the money out of the system. The Two Percent Solution is a call to arms that no serious candidate, Republican or Democrat, can afford to ignore.

About the Author:
Matthew Miller is a syndicated columnist, a commentator for NPR's "Morning Edition," and the host of the radio program "Left, Right & Center." His articles have appeared in The Atlantic Monthly, The New Republic, and The New York Times Magazine. He was previously a senior adviser to the director of the White House Office of Management and Budget and a management consultant with McKinsey & Company. He lives in Los Angeles.

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Editorials

Commentary

Miller's solutions uniquely combine a powerful moral dimension with economic sophistication and a lot of original thinking.

New York Times Sunday Business Section

The 2% Solution is clear, accessible and well written.

The Washington Post

… The Two Percent Solution is a welcome return to political thinking on a big-canvas agenda. Unlike the vaunted "Third Way" approach to policymaking advanced by the center-right sachems of the Democratic Leadership Council, Miller's plans do not reduce to cynical exercises in triangulation, designed mainly to win and hold on to executive power. Instead, they are intended to include all citizens under the simple idea that the public sector can intelligently do some good in the world. — Chris Lehmann

Wall Street Journal

A small marvel of a book, an extended discussion of domestic policy that will wake you up.

Washington Post Book World

The Two Percent Solution is a welcome return to political thinking on a big-canvas agenda.

Washington Post Book World

A beguilingly big and simple idea... a welcome return to political thinking on a big-canvas agenda.
— August, 2003

Publishers Weekly

Miller counts off the grim statistics of American society's most intractable problems: "40 million uninsured; 15 million working poor; 10 million poor kids in failing schools." Soon, making these costs seem trivial, baby boomers will retire. And the political system, distorted by money and special interests, refuses to seriously address these issues. Miller, a radio commentator and syndicated columnist, has a plan. With an increase of government spending of 2% of GDP, we can solve all these problems, but it will require "grand bargains" between the parties, with Democrats agreeing to accept market-oriented programs if Republicans will generously fund them. For instance, Miller says many Republicans would support universal health coverage if Democrats would allow a plan relying on tax subsidies to cover private insurance policies. Based on similar principles, Miller crafts Solomonic proposals to raise teacher pay, experiment with school vouchers, subsidize a living wage for poor workers, publicly finance elections, slow the growth rate of Social Security and Medicare expenses, and offset the costs of the new initiatives. Though he calls it "ideologically androgynous," Miller's agenda resembles the New Democrat platform and will be a harder sell to the committed tax cutters of the GOP. Miller has pitched his "Two Percent Solution" to dozens of influential policymakers across the political spectrum. The cautiously favorable reactions he reports from these encounters and from focus groups and polling commissioned for the book are the most convincing evidence of the plausibility of his vision. Sadly, sensible compromise still seems unlikely, but Miller's unflappable salesmanship is irresistible. (Sept.) Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.