Miller doesn't pretend to possess a magic formula. Instead, he poses questions that expose the folly of our certitude. For instance:

Top economists of all political persuasions insist that free trade is "good for the country" because the benefits to some Americans outweigh the losses suffered by others owing to foreign competition. But, asks Miller, "Who put economists in charge of weighing the interests of one set of Americans against another?"

On education: Miller supports serious parental involvement and local ownership of the direction of schools, but insists that school funding based on local taxation dooms poor communities to substandard education. Without a greater federal role in financing and standards, how are 10 million poor children supposed to compete?

Miller dismisses criticism that he is advancing a "nanny state." He acknowledges that "big government" liberalism is dead and rejects European socialist models. He even notes that Clinton's "Third Way" fell short of reducing insecurity in the global age.

At the same time, rigid conservative approaches have left us mortgaged to China through massive trade deficits, while deregulation of our financial system literally has broken the bank.

If rethinking comfortable ideas is painful, even more painful is the prospect in coming decades that, for instance, as many as 40 million white-collar jobs could be lost to competitors in such places as China and India.

Free trade was controversial as lower-paying manufacturing jobs moved overseas. "How will business and politics be reshaped when hungry foreign rivals set wage levels (and trigger 'downward mobility') for better-educated and politically potent groups in ways not previously imaginable?"

Unimaginable is the word for this and other scenarios Miller outlines in the book, but his arguments eliminate denial as an option. Although there's ample room for dissent, Miller's limber mind informs a rational voice that is crucial to the conversation.

Keep the Advil handy.