Governing to Win: Enhancing National Competitiveness Through New Policy and Operating Approaches

Overview of book: 

Charles Prow has compiled a series of insightful essays by leading thinkers and practitioners that offer a long-term strategy to improve national competitiveness. “Given today’s fiscal realities,” Prow explains, “the nation must explore alternative policy approaches and ways for government to do business.” He notes that the alternatives outlined in his new book can catalyze national competitiveness in an environment where major new investments will be difficult.  Policy makers and business professionals will find this a timely and compelling book in advance of the upcoming election.

Section I: The Imperative to Create Long-Term Fiscal Sustainability

Sets the context for the current national debate on fiscal stability by describing the long-term structural debt of the country, which will be a key priority of policymakers in coming years.  Offers a path for creating a nonpartisan framework for setting national priorities in that context, which should foster fiscal sustainability and thereby enhance national competitivenes. 

Chapter 1: Understanding What’s Driving the Annual Deficit

•  Lawrence J. Haas is a former senior White House official and an award-winning journalist. He is currently Senior Fellow for U.S. Foreign Policy at the American Foreign Policy Council 

Chapter 2: Understanding the Federal Government’s Long-Term Cost Drivers

• David M. Walker served as the seventh Comptroller General of the United States, from 1998 until 2008. He is currently the founder and Chief Executive Officer of the Comeback America Initiative based in Bridgeport, Connecticut.

Chapter 3: Creating a Strategic Approach to Budget Decisions

• Dr. F. Stevens Redburn is Study Director at the National Academy of Sciences and was Project Director of the Peterson-Pew Commission on Budget Reform in 201- and 2011. He formerly served as a senior executive in the U.S. Office of Management and Budget.

Chapter 4: Governance Is the New Competitiveness Imperative

• Gail D. Fosler is President of the GailFosler Group LLC, a strategic advisory service to global business leaders and public policymakers. She is the former President and Trustee of The Conference Board. She was also the chief economist of the U.S. Senate Budget Committee.

Section II: New Policy Approaches to Enhance Competitiveness

 Identifies targeted policy interventions in key sectors of the economy that could lead to improved national competitiveness, but within the context of the fiscal austerity our nation will face for the foreseeable future. 

Chapter 5: Three Approaches to Fostering Economic Competitiveness

•  Dr. Jason J. Fichtner is a senior research fellow at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University. He previously served as Chief Economist and acting Deputy Commissioner at the Social Security Administration.

Chapter 6: Two Key Actions to Align Postsecondary Education with the Labor Market

• Dr. Anthony P. Carnevale directs the Center on Education and the Workforce at Georgetown University. He has served on the White House Commission on Technology and Adult Education and chaired the national Commission on Employment Policy.

 Chapter 7: Five Initiatives to Bend the Health Care Cost Curve

• Dr. Jack Meyer holds a joint appointment as Professor of Practice in the University of Maryland School of Public Policy and the School of Public Health. Dr. Meyer is also a principal with Health Management Associates in the Washington, DC office.

 Chapter 8: Three Strategies to Increase Energy Efficiency

• Dr. Howard Geller is the Executive Director of the Southwest Energy Efficiency Project and is the former Executive Director of the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy

Section III: Moving to an " Enterprise USA" Approach in Government Can Enhance Competitiveness

Offers a value-oriented, enterprise operating model for the federal government, based on commercial experience, which could lower operating costs by up to $1 trillion over a decade while improving mission performance and services to citizens.  Because the federal government, as an enterprise, is such a large segment of the overall economy, this new operating model could bring about similar changes in the broader economy, thereby improving productivity and enhancing national competitiveness.

Chapter 9: Create a New Value-Oriented Operating Model for Government

• Charles L Prow is the IBM General Manager responsible for the Global Business Services Public Sector Business, including federal government, state and local, and health care.

Chapter 10: Use Technology to Enhance Productivity

• Mark Forman was the first Administrator of the Office of E-Government and Information Technology in the Office of Management and Budget. He is currently co-founding a new venture, Government Transaction Services.

Chapter 11: Rethink Government Purchasing and Supply Chains

• Raj Sharma is a visiting fellow at the Center for American Progress and the founder of the Federal Acquisition Innovation and Reform Institute.

Chapter 12: Strategically Use Business Analytics

• Jeffrey C. Steinhoff is the Executive Director of the KPMG Government Institute. Previously, he served as the Assistant Comptroller General of the United States for Accounting and Information Management at the U.S. Government Accountability Office.

Chapter 13: Expand the Use of Shared Services

• William R. Philips is the Principal in Charge of KPMG’s Federal Advisory Unite and a Senior Fellow on the Defense Business Board.

• Debra Cammer Hines is a Managing Director at IBM and a former credit policy expert at the U.S. Office of Management and Budget