Should the government support American businesses that are struggling in a cut-throat world market? Or should we give market competition free rein, even if domestic producers come up short? The debate over this question has gone on for generations. But when partisan rhetoric and economic orthodoxy are set aside, what is the reality? Richard Bingham finds that the American approach to government support for business development is flexible and pragmatic. What we practice is not always what we preach. Bingham peels the euphemisms off the economic policies of successive administrations to construct a coherent portrait of America's de facto industrial policy. This is the necessary first step toward a constructive discussion of the issues. Readable and enlivened with cogent case studies as current as the National Flat Panel Display Initiative and the Partnership for a New Generation of Vehicles, the book will engage the interest of anyone who is concerned about the future of American industry.