a policy framework,
a national business plan &
a political strategy
provide freedom, security and prosperity for all
building an economy that makes the most valuable goods and services that the world needs to build a clean economy.
We did this as individuals, families, communities, businesses, and as a nation. We did it by competing and cooperating, by planning and executing. We embarked on great national missions that connected every community by canal, rail, highway, and air; supplied the world with life changing machines and materials; defeated fascism; and put people on the moon. By building in that way for three centuries, we achieved a level of freedom, security, and prosperity that our ancestors never imagined in their wildest dreams.
Society did not exist. The grand plans of the past had not driven progress. Planning and cooperating as a nation was harmful. Led by these beliefs, they shut down national economic planning and development institutions. They stopped trying to repair and replace fading industries, and let millions of high-paying jobs slip away. They starved public services of resources and let our infrastructure atrophy. Wages sank compared to the price of housing, transportation, healthcare, and education. America no longer made its own living, and wealth streamed out of the country. To make ends meet, workers spent down their savings while government and companies sold off their assets.
The economic mobilization before and during World War II relied on, and stayed within the bounds of, American political and economic traditions. That's how it won the support of business, labor, and voters of all political persuasions. The flexibility and dynamism of its approach allowed the U.S. to mobilize industry faster and on a massively greater scale than European and Soviet command-and-control efforts.
The state led the transformation, but industry participated voluntarily — and with greater energy, efficiency, and creativity as a result. It was crucial to the success of the effort that the individuals who directly led the mobilization were almost all drawn from the ranks of industry.
The World War II mobilization was carried out to overcome two crises: the Nazi conquest of Europe and the Great Depression. Business was afraid to invest. No amount of government lending and encouragement had been able to fully reignite their courage. America needed an urgent mission to overcome its fear — and to provide sufficient and sustained demand for products, services, and innovation.
Today, we face a new crisis, and business again lacks the courage and vision to take on the gargantuan task of ending greenhouse gas emissions and reinventing the world economy for the post-fossil fuel era — a project big enough to provide prosperity and economic security for all.
The Mission for America is equally a climate plan and a plan for reinventing our national economy to survive and thrive in the changing world of the 21st century. The Mission for America will bring greenhouse gas emissions close to zero in 10 years, but it's more important goal is to develop and scale industries capable of supplying a greatly-accelerated global transition to a clean economy.
New Consensus is an economic and social policy think tank that champions the return of public leadership in economic development. We create policies and plans for rebuilding public institutions for financing and coordination, and promote political strategies to make it happen.