BETTER, STRONGER, FASTER

At a time of grim predictions for the American economy, Daniel Gross, the influential financial columnist and author of Dumb Money, offers a refreshingly optimistic, but still reality-based, take on our nation's economic prospects, examining the positive global and domestic trends of the last two years, which indicate a surprisingly encouraging outlook for America's future.

At the World Economic Forum in Davos in January 2010 the general consensus was that the once great American economy was in its death throes; faith in its recover was minimal to non-existent and talk of its prospects was grim. The world's leading economists and political leaders made frighteningly pessimistic predictions - Joseph Stiglitz declared the U.S. "irrelevant," while Nicolas Sarkozy proclaimed the end of U.S.-led global capitalism, and the so-called "prophets of doom" Nassim Nicholas Taleb and Nouriel Roubini chimed in with their usual dose of gloom. It was generally agreed upon that the torch would now be taken up by the east, especially China, where the greed and gluttony that had so overwhelmed American capitalism were not so widely practiced. Morale and optimism were low, and those who made rosy predictions--like Dan Gross--were made to seem like foolish dreamers. Few at that meeting, in the U.S. government, at our nation's leading financial institutions or in the press would have predicted an upturn or steady resurgence - but, despite the overwhelmingly negative mood, data from the last two years show that this is in fact what's happening.

In this account, Gross explores the many reasons this incredible turnaround came to pass. As he explains, rather than accept defeat and the promise of slow growth or even continued decline, many businesses and institutions exhibited the very strengths that built the American economy into the global powerhouse it was before the crash: ingenuity, adaptability, focus on efficiencies, openness, entrepreneurship, and, perhaps least sexily, pragmatism. Notably, they also turned away from the ideology and models that led so many astray.

This is a narrative of the remarkable reconstruction of America that started in March 2009, a period that Gross compares to March 1933 - as both marked the start of unexpected recoveries and periods marked by grand reconstruction efforts. In just 16 months following the crash, the U.S. undertook the aggressive fiscal and monetary actions that Japan waited 12 years to institute: rate cuts, a huge stimulus, an expansion of bank insurance, nationalizing failed institutions, zero-interest rate policy, and quantitative easing by the Fed. As a result of these efforts, and comparable restructuring and refocusing in the government and private sector, the story of the crash became a remarkable comeback story. As Gross demonstrates, through stories of American businesses like Ford and Toyota, from their development of electric vehicles to their use of plants abroad, to the innovative solutions being crafted by tech companies, investors, and consumers alike, America has the potential to emerge from this period not as a the global leader it once was, but as something better, stronger, faster - with a reconstructed and vibrant new economy that promises a brighter future.

Daniel Gross is the economics editor and a columnist at Yahoo! Finance. From 2007 through August 2010, Gross was a senior editor at Newsweek, where he wrote the "Contrary Indicator" column. During this time he also wrote a twice-weekly Moneybox column for Slate. Prior to joining Newsweek, he wrote the "Economic View" column in the New York Times/ Gross has appeared on MSNBC, CNBC, CNN, Fox News Channel, The News Hour with Jim Lehrer, C-SPAN, and on more than 35 radio programs, including NPR’s Fresh Air with Terry Gross (no relation). He is the author of Dumb Money, Pop!: Why Bubbles Are Great for the Economy, Forbes Greatest Business Stories of All Time; and Bull Run: Wall Street, the Democrats, and the New Politics of Personal Finance. He lives in Connecticut.