by Simon Johnson (Author)
From the authors of the national bestseller 13 Bankers, a chilling account of America's unprecedented debt crisis: how it came to pass, why it threatens to topple the nation as a superpower, and what needs to be done about it.
With bracing clarity, White House Burning explains why the national debt matters to your everyday life. Simon Johnson and James Kwak describe how the government has been able to pay off its debt in the past, even after the massive deficits incurred as a result of World War II, and analyze why this is near-impossible today. They closely examine, among other factors, macroeconomic shifts of the 1970s, Reaganism and the rise of conservatism, and demographic changes that led to the growth of major--and extremely popular--social insurance programs. What is unquestionably clear is how recent financial turmoil exacerbated the debt crisis while creating a political climate in which it is even more difficult to solve.Author Biography
Simon Johnson is the Ronald A. Kurtz Professor of Entrepreneurship at MIT's Sloan School of Management and a senior fellow of the Peterson Institute for International Economics. James Kwak is an Associate Professor at the University of Connecticut School of Law. He previously co-founded Guidewire Software.
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Number of Pages: 384
Dimensions: 0.83 x 8 x 5.23 IN
Publication Date: February 12, 2013