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32nd out of 65 books
—
39 voters
A Governor's Story: The Fight for Jobs and America's Economic Future
Jennifer Granholm was the two-term governor of Michigan, a state synonymous with manufacturing during a financial crisis that threatened to put all America’s major car companies into bankruptcy. The immediate and knock-on effects were catastrophic. Granholm’s grand plans for education reform, economic revitalization, clean energy, and infrastructure development were blitze...more
Hardcover, 336 pages
Published
September 20th 2011
by PublicAffairs
(first published September 12th 2011)
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As a sometimes resident of Michigan, I feel obligated to read and review this.
Granholm's tenure as Governor has not been without controversy. The state was in economic free-fall, even before the Great Recession. The dependence on manufacturing, incompetent corporate management, and problems with infrastructure, education, health, and general welfare set up the state for a long ugly spell.
Yet somehow, the governor persevered, taking long foreign trips to court new investors for the state, making...more
Granholm's tenure as Governor has not been without controversy. The state was in economic free-fall, even before the Great Recession. The dependence on manufacturing, incompetent corporate management, and problems with infrastructure, education, health, and general welfare set up the state for a long ugly spell.
Yet somehow, the governor persevered, taking long foreign trips to court new investors for the state, making...more
Gov Granholm's book is an excellent companion to Fareed Zakaria's "The Post-American World, Release 2.0" - where Mr Zakaria describes Globalization, its effects and offers some strategies for the US to use to renew growth and competitiveness in the new global economy, Gov Granholm tells the story of being at the forefront of our economic crisis, and her real life experiences dealing with the transition from 20th Century thinking to 21st Century thinking. Gov Granholm shares an example of how eco...more
A fascinating insider's look at Michigan's economic crisis and how to deal with structural economic change. Granholm's first term co-incided with the time we lived in Michigan and in the backdrop of budget cuts in higher education, there were many tough budget choices that had to be made across the board. Coupled with dealing with budget deficits was also developing strategies to attract more jobs, retraining a manufacturing-based workforce and providing incentives so that firms could stay in bu...more
I think this book is essential reading for all Michiganders, and for others who are looking to understand our jobs/economic crises better. Important points include that lowering taxes for business is not even close to a guarantee for economic stimulus, and more government intervention is needed to scoop us out of a quickly becoming irrelevant manufacturing base and into a new area of growth where we can have an edge in the global marketplace, where government intervention is commonplace. (It is...more
The book is extremely well written. Granholm uses her own experiences as Governor of MI duirng its economic crisis to illustrate that laissez faire economics is not the solution to our economic woes. Part of the book's appeal is the way that Granholm recounts her trips overseas and discusses the deals she brokered with foriegn and domestic companies to keep and bring jobs to MI. Not only is the book informative and entertaining, it is also incredibly relevant since the country is facing some of...more
A hard book for me to read…I kept wanting to punish all companies that did to Michigan what Electrolux, Walmart and Delphi did. Granholm's prescriptions are inevitable if-and-only-if one concludes the jobs aren't coming back. Her perspective is useful when one includes that the work will return to the US if we exercise the political will to make it return. My viewpoint was challenged by Granholm's book and that was useful. This book is required reading for anyone determined not to be victimized...more
This book is great. Former governor of Michigan, Jennifer Granholm (with Dan Mulhern), delineates how her state lost jobs (auto industry, mostly) and how she brought (clean energy) jobs back to Michigan. It's a book for anyone who is interested in the mess America is in right now. Granholm offers solutions, based upon her experience, for the country as a whole.
A spellbinding account of Michigan's economic plight and its ensuing recovery. Extremely well-written. No fluff here, unlike most political memoirs! Jennifer is truly a liberal icon whose unrelenting spirit helped save Michigan. Very inspiring - I can't wait to see which project she works on next :)
She gives a good description of what it is to be governor and the heartaches of the office. She points out whats happening across the country, not only MI. Maybe I`m biased, because I met her a long time ago when she was a speaker at a dinner in Detroit and I felt her dynamic personality.
Interesting read. The author talks about alternatives to stimulating the economy instead of just tax cuts. She really did some things to turn Michigan around.
An interesting, behind the scenes, look at State and federal politics; and a crystal clear message: "Tax cuts alone are not the key to economic growth."
What a great read. Should be on required reading lists somewhere! Having lived in Michigan during much of Gov. Granholm's time in office, I realized while reading her book that I didn't know and/or fully understand what was happening at the time. It's a great look into state/local and business politics, but I'm also just glad to have read it to understand the decade and severe recession we're currently (and slowly) coming out of. I finished the book feeling hopeful for my state of Michigan, defi...more
absolutely riveting. Granholm's own swift, no-clutter style leads you through the crisis years of 2007-'11. for anyone blindly blaming her for MI's woes, try the CEO who in '07 told her "we all have to move all the jobs to China." Granholm closely chronicles the resulting freefall, with Michigan at the epicenter. this book offers a fascinating first-hand account of that action-packed era.
Ahhh.... Politics are so interesting, and (as has been said) so very local...
I lived intimately with the times Jennifer Granholm discusses and remember many of the events. It was a painful time for Michigan and hard to relive. She provides ideas for the future, which are well worth reading.
Sep 26, 2011
Akansha
marked it as to-read
She was on Daily show and was very impressive.
I lived through a part of this story. Told with great insight.
Just as I started to read this book I realized the author was going to speak at the Democratic National Convention.
Jennifer Granholm was governor of Michigan during the economic downturn and did an amazing job of turning the states economy around. She had help from the Obama government and she is an ardent supporter.
It's clear she is biased towards Obama, but she did a good job of trying to keep Michigan from falling prey to the auto industry's problems.
Jennifer Granholm was governor of Michigan during the economic downturn and did an amazing job of turning the states economy around. She had help from the Obama government and she is an ardent supporter.
It's clear she is biased towards Obama, but she did a good job of trying to keep Michigan from falling prey to the auto industry's problems.
May 16, 2013
Kate
marked it as to-read
Apr 17, 2013
Jason
marked it as to-read
Apr 07, 2013
Jessica
marked it as to-read-unowned
Apr 01, 2013
Kelly Foster
is currently reading it
Mar 30, 2013
Alex
added it
Mar 01, 2013
Nadine
marked it as to-read
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