Prosperity in a Crisis The United States needs to recapitalize
banks and enact broader tax cuts. In addition to its
historically robust (if not currently weakened) capital markets
and entrepreneurship, the United States has flourished because
of characteristics such as its citizens' ability to convert
knowledge into innovation and social trust into productive
activity. To be sure, the nation cannot prosper without healthy
capital markets, but if we do not continue to support and invest
in the basic drivers of commerce and productive citizens, those
capital markets don't mean much. If in the current financial
maelstrom Americans abandon the pillars of their success, the
future might not be so promising. Unfortunately the stimulus
package does not seem designed to reinforce these pillars. The
idea that prosperity is more than money is not merely our
theory. It is borne out of the data themselves. The Prosperity
Index finds that economic strength and a good quality of life
are mutually reinforcing: in general, c