American Economic Policy in the 1990's

Abstract

The book American Economic Policy in the 1990s, which has a publication date of Spring 2002 from MIT Press, is the outcome of a conference held at the Kennedy School in June 2001. It brought together leading policy-makers and economists, with the goal of providing a preliminary history of U.S. economic policy-making during the last decade. The book is divided into 14 chapters in addition to this Introduction. Each examines a different area of economic policy: Monetary policy, Fiscal policy, Tax policy, International finance and crises in emerging markets, Trade policy, Information Technology, Industrial organization, Energy policy, Environmental policy, Labor and education, Poverty and welfare, Health care and tobacco policy, Medicare policy, and Process. This Introduction to the volume includes a discussion of distinguishing characteristics of "Clintonomics" in historical perspective, a cataloguing of reasons for the good economic performance enjoyed by the country during the years 1993-2000, an explanation of the difficulties of apportioning credit for such outcomes, and some thoughts on the under-appreciated perils of excessive transparency in government.