Product Description: The United States has been spending its way deeper and deeper into the red, and saddling future generations with the mess—but who's paying attention? To answer that question, the companion book to the critically acclaimed documentary I.O.U.S.A. talks with some of the most revered voices in the nation, including Warren Buffett; former Treasury Secretaries Paul O’Neill and Robert Rubin; Pete Peterson, CEO of The Blackstone Group; Congressman Ron Paul (R-Texas); and bestselling Empire of Debt author Bill Bonner. Armed with these interviews, historical references, and damning statistics, the book takes a lively and entertaining romp through the four deficits the nation faces: the budget deficit, the personal savings deficit, the trade deficit—and what former U.S. Comptroller General David Walker, who resigned abruptly in 2008 over Congress’s lack of action, calls the “leadership deficit” in Washington. Defiantly non-partisan, the empowering solutions outlined in these pages are a must-read for any American who wants to help change “business-as-usual” in Washington as a new administration heads towards the Oval Office. “We the People” can get our politicians to stop spending, promote responsible economic programs, and hand our children and grandchildren the secure future they deserve.
IOUSA Very worth while .Very informative , Has a great deal of information that more americans need to have in order that additional questions will be asked of our elected officials,in reguard to getting the national spending and budget in balance .
Three Cheers for I.O.U.S.A. The construction of the book meshes well with its organization and lends itself successfully to the study of our national deficit throughout our history. Packed with figures and facts related to the federal budget, the stock market, the GDP, Social Security, et al., I.O.U.S.A is a refreshing look at the state of affairs in our county, and moreover, how it relates to the rest of the world market.
A very good read for accountants and novices alike, I.O.U.S.A. will make you take a step back and analyze not only our country's spending, but our own personal spending habits as well.
Knowing is half the 10 billion dollar battle After seeing the film; this book was soon in my shopping cart. There too few books that do not preach, try to sway your vote, or lay blame on one particular person. It tells Americans what has happened to our economy, and what will continue happening if we don't do something about it. And yes, its scary. But guess what- so is the future at the spending rate we are going. Coming from a generation of indulgence and gross self- entitlement, the few bad reviews about this book are being typed on iPhones. This book (and film) is not for the cynic. It's for people like me that want to leave a mark in the world; just not one that cost 10 billion dollars.
Marketing gimmick - insipid This book is padded out junk. It's a sell out - insipid and unimaginative.
Misses the point. This film does a very good job at scaring people. Some of the figures and projections are bonechilling. However, it largely overstates the problem. We've handled deficits before. We ran an enormous deficit during the WW-II era (over 100% of GDP), so the current deficit (around 3% of GDP) is not a "fiscal cancer" as the IOUSA team would have you believe.
More importantly though, the film missed an opportunity to offer a real solution to the deficit problem -- health care. If our country's health care system were as efficient as the systems in other industrialized countries, and if programs like Medicare/Medicaid could take advantage of these lower costs, our deficit problem would virtually disappear. The Center for Economic and Policy Research has a nice graphic that demonstrates this well:
Anything Goes Trivia
Megaton Man
Tailipoe
Trevor
