This volume is the result of three conferences organized by the American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research. This Washington, DC-based think tank is best known as an incubator for neoconservative thought. No doubt many chapters lean right
sometimes so far that it threatens to tip the book over. For example, the chapters on international trade promote free trade initiatives, and the chapters on the health care system argue the system is more efficient than originally thought (take that, Obamacare). Nonetheless, readers in the center (and left of center) will benefit from both Martin West's study of education outcomes in the US compared to those of other countries (chapter 3), and Robert Shapiro's analysis of the role of innovation and intellectual property (chapter 5). Phillip Swagel's contribution on international competitiveness (chapter 9) completes the volume with a 30,000-foot view of competition from a political angle. His perspective offers a much-needed respite after what at times feels like an awkward family dinner conversation between a neoconservative brother-in-law and a liberal niece. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduate collections and above.
R. H. Scott, Monmouth University
CHOICE