Gordon Hastings is president of ghhMANAGEMENT. He is the founder of the Broadcasters Foundation of America and the former president of Katz Radio and Katz Television. He is a founder of the Radio Mercury Awards and the Broadcasters Foundation of America Celebrity Golf Tournament.
Tom Friedman’s and Michael Mandelbaum’s That Used To Be Us, How America Fell Behind In The World It Invented and How We Can Come Back, places in focus the current economic and social turbulence in America. It is an important read regardless of your industry or politics.
Friedman and Mandelbaum cite four major challenges facing America: How to adapt to globalization, how to adjust to information technology, how to cope with large and soaring budget deficits and how to manage in a world of rising energy consumption and rising threats to the climate and environment. Even though That Used To Be Us was written before Occupy Wall Street its content is a predictor of the movement.
That Used To Be Us meticulously peals back the covers of missed opportunities to right America’s economic ship by all stakeholders. The How We Can Come Backsubtitle brings forth big challenges and a hint of optimism. The authors jump into the political fray by strongly recommending a major third party candidacy as necessary to force the established political parties to focus on the real issues that are facing the nation.
Friedman and Mandelbaum call for an end to what they term the current political “gross irresponsibility.” “Anyone who proposes solutions that are not at the scale of the problem is not serious.” They elaborate by recommending among other proposals equipping the citizenry with the skills and tools essential for economic growth in a global economy, rebuilding America’s infrastructure, and emphasize that cutting is not the answer unless it is coupled with major tax increases to create hope for a future balanced budget. Quoting the authors, “ Anyone who says that we can restore order to our national finances today without raising taxes is not being serious.”
Great books are timeless and many have been posted on Gordon’s Good Reads. That Used To Be Us is certainly timely and adds greatly to broadening ones understanding of Americaat a major social and economic crossroads. Friedman and Mandelbaum reference a poinient quote from management guru Peter Drucker. The greatest danger in times of turbulence is not the turbulence; it is to act with yesterday’s logic.
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