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The Smart Society
Book

The Smart Society

Strengthening America’s Greatest Resource, Its People

Peter D. Salins
Encounter Books, 2014

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Editorial Rating

7

Qualities

  • Innovative
  • Eye Opening

Recommendation

State University of New York professor and former provost Peter D. Salins directly dealt with human capital as head of the largest American university system. He discusses what makes the US a “smart society” – one where all citizens contribute socially and economically. Salins bemoans that countries threaten the US’s historic dominance in education and industry. He devotes most of his discussion to education as the most crucial contributor to human capital. Salins also addresses immigration reform with less polarization than many other commentators, though he is more controversial on welfare reform and is unabashedly nationalistic. His suggestions for practical reform are well researched and thought provoking. While politically neutral, getAbstract recommends familiarity with Salins’s ideas to elected officials, activists, parents, teachers, professors, and anyone involved in education, economics and immigration.

Take-Aways

  • The secret to America’s success is human capital: its individual residents’ abilities to be “economically and socially successful.”
  • A “smart society” enjoys high levels of human capital.
  • Other countries threaten America’s historic dominance in education, industry and immigration status.

About the Author

Stony Brook University political science professor Peter D. Salins also directs the university’s graduate program in public policy. He is the former provost of the State University of New York, the largest group of state-run US universities.

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