The Politics of Bad Ideas

A lucid, convincing, and devastating critique of supply-side economics and a starve-the-beast route to shrinking the size of government.  Jones and Williams document the high cost of the triumph of ideology over neutral competence in national policymaking and suggest ways of restoring honesty and responsibility to public finance in America.

-THOMAS E. MANN, Senior Fellow, The Brookings Institution, and co-author of The Broken Branch

Heres a good idea: Read The Politics of Bad Ideas. With care and without cant, Jones and Williamsan acclaimed political scientist and an accomplished policy experteviscerate the free lunch mantra of radical tax cutters.  They show that the 'great tax cut delusion' has eroded not just our governments fiscal capacity, but also the health of our representative democracy." 

 - JACOB S. HACKER, Professor of Political Science, Yale University, and authorof The Great Risk Shift

This lively book is a clear window into the very soul of American politics. It helps explain how analysts convince themselves of the things they want to believe and why citizens so easily believe what they want to hear. Its at once a keen assessment of where weve been and a sharp look at the big, inescapable policy puzzles that lie aheadand the challenges that Americas political institutions face in trying to solve them.

- DONALD F. KETTL, Director, Fels Institute of Government, University of Pennsylvania

The Politics of Bad Ideas is a ringing indictment of bad fiscal policy and an explanation of why and how bad fiscal policy persists.  Writing with incisive clarity, Bryan Jones and Walter Williams present a lively description of the decline of evidence-based policy making and a principled defense of the classic concept of neutral competence among career policy makers.  The Politics of Bad Ideas is an important contribution to political science, to public administration, and to policy analysis.

- H. GEORGE FREDERICKSON, Stene Professor of Public Administration, University of Kansas   

 ADDITIONAL PRAISE FOR

 In writing this book, Bryan Jones and Walter Williams have performed a valuable public service: they have laid out in clear terms the nexus of political and economic arguments underpinning debates over the economy and federal budget.  No small achievement, since most such arguments are so ideologically driven and academic jargon-riven as to be unheard by any larger public.  The authors are clear about their own preferences and they may well not persuade their opponents, but this book certainly deserves a large audience.

-JOHN L. PALME...