Reich, Robert B(ernard) (1946- )

US Democratic politician and political economist, secretary of labour 1993-96. In Minding America's Business: The Decline and Rise of the American Economy (1982), he proposed the diversion of government financial incentives away from declining manufacturing industries to those employing new technology.

Reich entered the Justice Department in 1974, became director of policy planning at the Federal Trade Commission in 1976, and a lecturer in political economy at the John F Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, in 1981. His other books include New Deals: The Chrysler Revival and the American System (1979), an analysis of government intervention to bail out the car manufacturer Chrysler; Tales of a New America (1987); The Resurgent Liberal (and Other Unfashionable Prophecies) (1989); and The Work of Nations: Preparing Ourselves for 21st Century Capitalism (1991), where he called for the education of a skilled and flexible workforce, able to adapt to new techniques. His ideas had an influence on the thinking and policy of the ‘New Labour’ government in the UK, led by Tony Blair from 1997.