* Former president presided over long economic expansion
* Clinton's 'Back to Work' to reach bookstores in November
By Mark Egan
Bill Clinton is no longer president but says he is so concerned about the bleak U.S. economic outlook that he will set out his blueprint for America in a new book to be published in November.
Clinton's "Back to Work" lays out the former president's plan to get the country "back into the future business," Knopf Chairman and Editor in Chief Sonny Mehta said in a statement.
Clinton, a Democrat, was president from 1993 to 2001 and presided over the nation's longest-ever economic expansion.
"America at its core is an idea -- the idea that no matter who you are or where you're from, if you work hard and play by the rules, you'll have the freedom and opportunity to pursue your own dreams and leave your kids a country where they can chase theirs," Clinton writes in the book.
Many Americans say they have grown tired of partisan bickering in Washington, and the Tea Party movement seeking lower taxes and smaller government has made the political divide in America even more pronounced.
Against that backdrop, Clinton makes his case for government investment in everything from faster broadband to better water and sewer systems, airports, railways and roads, saying such investments would bolster economic growth.
"There is no evidence that we can succeed in the 21st century with an antigovernment strategy," writes Clinton.
The book talks about ways to increase bank lending and corporate investment, raise exports, restore the struggling manufacturing sector and create new businesses including those that develop green technology.
Clinton's 2004 memoir "My Life" was a huge hit. It sold more than 2 million copies even though it focused more heavily than many readers would have liked on policy issues instead of his personal life.
With unemployment over 9 percent, the economy near another recession and global stock markets in turmoil, the state of the U.S. economy is expected to be the biggest issue in the 2012 president election.
U.S. President Barack Obama recently presented to Congress his $447 billion plan to create jobs.
Since leaving office, Clinton has focused on philanthropy and the Clinton Global Initiative, which wrapped up its seventh annual summit in New York on Thursday.
The summit featured more than 1,200 attendees, including more than 50 heads of state, business leaders, humanitarians and celebrities who discussed how to create jobs, foster sustainable consumption and other issues.