Land of Promise

Lind (policy director, economic growth program, New America Fdn.; columnist, Salon.com) argues that an ideological battle between the ideas of Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton has shaped the country's evolving relationship between state and economy. It would be difficult to find a book with more fascinating biographical details, statistical vignettes, and obscure but truly engaging, eye-opening details of U.S. economic history. However, while Lind is an excellent historian, his venture into economics is tainted throughout by his political philosophy and the strained interpretations it demands. His work is weakened by his frequent ill-formed and unjustified explanations of economic outcomes and realities. Its most enlightening chapters, on the politics of railroad development or the economics of U.S. war efforts, are overshadowed by the author's mercantilist worldview that privileges relative national advancement over absolute economic growth.