First published 2013
America's national debt has reached unprecedented levels that threaten the country's status as a global superpower. Johnson and Kwak, authors of the bestselling 13 Bankers, examine how the government successfully paid down debt after World War II despite enormous wartime deficits. They argue this approach no longer works today. The authors trace key developments that created the current crisis: economic changes in the 1970s, the Reagan era and conservative movement, and demographic shifts that expanded popular social insurance programs. Recent financial upheaval made the debt problem worse while creating political conditions that make solutions harder to achieve. The book explains why national debt affects ordinary Americans in their daily lives and what actions are necessary to address this crisis.
Genres: political-science, economics, non-fiction, 21st-century, public-policy, american-history
Vibes: thought-provoking
Setting: United States
Period: 21st Century
384 pages · Paperback · Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group