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The Founding Fathers, Our National Debt, and Why It Matters to You
Pantheon
April 2012
On Sale: April 3, 2012
352 pages
ISBN: 0307906965
EAN: 9780307906960
Kindle: B005PRF5SK
Hardcover / e-Book
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Non-Fiction
America is mired in debt—more than $30,000 for every man,
woman, and child. Bitter fighting over deficits, taxes, and
spending bedevils Washington, D.C., even as partisan
gridlock has brought the government to the brink of default.
Yet the more politicians on both sides of the aisle rant and
the citizenry fumes, the more things seem to remain the same. In White House Burning, Simon Johnson and James Kwak—authors
of the national best seller 13 Bankers and cofounders of The
Baseline Scenario, a widely cited blog on economics and
public policy—demystify the national debt, explaining whence
it came and, even more important, what it means to you and
to future generations. They tell the story of the Founding
Fathers’ divisive struggles over taxes and spending. They
chart the rise of the almighty dollar, which makes it easy
for the United States to borrow money. They account for the
debasement of our political system in the 1980s and 1990s,
which produced today’s dysfunctional and impotent Congress.
And they show how, if we persist on our current course, the
national debt will harm ordinary Americans by reducing the
number of jobs, lowering living standards, increasing
inequality, and forcing a sudden and drastic reduction in
the government services we now take for granted. But Johnson and Kwak also provide a clear and compelling
vision for how our debt crisis can be solved while
strengthening our economy and preserving the essential
functions of government. They debunk the myth that such
crucial programs as Social Security and Medicare must be
slashed to the bone. White House Burning looks squarely at
the burgeoning national debt and proposes to defuse its
threat to our well-being without forcing struggling
middle-class families and the elderly into poverty. Carefully researched and informed by the same compelling
storytelling and lucid analysis as 13 Bankers, White House
Burning is an invaluable guide to the central political and
economic issue of our time. It is certain to provoke
vigorous debate.
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