TimesOnline: The damage to Brand USA needs urgent repair - by Francis Fukuyama
The damage to Brand USA needs urgent repair - by Francis Fukuyama
"The implosion of America's investment banks... the vanishing of more than a trillion dollars in stock- market wealth in a day: the scale of the Wall Street crack-up could scarcely be more gargantuan. Yet even as Americans ask why they have to pay a mind-bending $700 billion to prevent the economy from imploding, few are discussing a potentially much greater cost to the United States - the damage to America's “brand”.
The biggest change that America must make is in its politics. The Reagan revolution broke the 50-year dominance of liberals and Democrats in US politics but what were once fresh ideas have hardened into dogmas. The ultimate test for the US model will be its capacity to reinvent itself. Good branding is not a matter of putting lipstick on a pig. It's about having the right product to sell in the first place. American democracy has its work cut out."
Labels: Image, US elections, USA
