Agenda for the Nation

Written by Brookings Institution scholars and a few other think tank denizens, this volume is similar to the last Brookings text of the same name, published in 1968, in that it focuses on long term policy alternatives available to the United States. Fifteen chapters each take on major issues facing the country, offering both descriptions and prescriptions. Topics include the economy and inequality, health and medical care, private pension issues, demographic change, energy and environmental policy, foreign policy, military policy, terrorism, and civil rights and liberties. Annotation (c) Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Henry J. Aaron is a senior fellow in Economic Studies at the Brookings Institution, where he holds the Bruce and Virginia MacLaury Chair. Among his many books are Can We Say No? The Challenge of Rationing Health Care, with William B. Schwartz and Melissa Cox (Brookings, 2006), and Reforming Medicare: Options,Tradeoffs, and Opportunities, written with Jeanne Lambrew (Brookings, 2008). James M. Lindsay is vice president and director of studies of the Council on Foreign Relations, where he holds the Maurice R. Greenberg Chair. He was previously deputy director and senior fellow in Foreign Policy Studies at the Brookings Institution. His books include Defending America: The Case for Limited National Missile Defense (Brookings 2001). In 1996-97, Lindsay was director for global issues and multilateral affairs on the National Security Council staff. Pietro S. Nivola is a vice president of the Brookings Institution, where he is the director of Governance Studies. Among his previous books are Tense Commandments: Federal Prescriptions and City Problems (Brookings, 2002).