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In "Back to Work," President Clinton offers a compelling argument that the most critical problem facing America today is a lack of support for smart and effective government -- and in particular the inability of the public and private sectors to work together in the best interests of the country. Clinton begins by laying out the history of the Republican war on government that started with Ronald Reagan. Republicans have consistently argued that, in every area except national security, "government is the problem -- not the solution." The result has been self-fulfilling as conservative politicians have gained power and then worked actively to destroy the effectiveness of government, rather than work to improve it. Clinton compares our current situation with that of other developed countries, virtually all of which are able to achieve a workable synthesis of government and business. The United States, for example, is the only industrialized nation with a complete inability to leverage smart government in a way that offers some control over escalating health care costs. The result is diminshed confidence in our future solvency, and the discouraging reality that nations significantly less wealthy than the United States are able to provide far better social safety nets for their citizens. Clinton also shows that today's political disfunction and idealogical gridlock is NOT characteristic of America's history. The book lists a number of Republican presidents -- including Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt, and Eisenhower -- who believed that government was an essential tool for the public welfare and made substantial investments in infrastruture and other areas. Perhaps the most important sentence in the book is this: "There is simply no evidence that we can succeed in the twenty-first century with an antigovernment strategy." This statement is abundantly true. Things seem to be moving at a faster and faster rate, and the economic environment is ever more complex. Financial innovations on Wall Street are beyond comprehension. Climate change is a looming threat we seem unable to confront. The book contains a number of good ideas for moving forward and returning to national competitiveness. My only criticism is that I don't think the President fully grasps how extraordinarily fast the changes are likely to come over the next decade and beyond. Information technology is accelerating and will have a dramatic impact on the jobs and livelihoods of Americans and on the overall economy. President Clinton's call for an end to anti-government rhetoric and the development of a smart private/public sector partnership could not come at a more crucial time.