White House Burning

White House Burning

Author: Simon Johnson

Publisher: Vintage

Published: 2013-02-12

Total Pages: 386

ISBN-13: 0307947645

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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.


Debt Bomb

Debt Bomb

Author: Michael Ginsberg

Publisher: BQB Publishing

Published: 2021-07-01

Total Pages: 368

ISBN-13: 1952782090

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"A deftly crafted thriller that kept me turning pages---through politics, money, and murder---to the ending I didn't see coming." - Chris DeRose, New York Times Bestselling Author of The Fighting Bunch. A political thriller, tied in to real events, about an apocalyptic threat to America that is ticking remorselessly in the background while Americans continue their daily routines, oblivious to the danger. For years, China's spy agency has been watching the United States rack up trillions of dollars in debt, waiting for the right moment to weaponize that debt to collapse the American government and install a Communist puppet regime. At the same time, suburban accountant Andrea Gartner has been an outspoken critic of the debt as a leader in the South Carolina state Republican Party. When the United States elects President Earl Murray, he brings Andrea into his government as budget director to solve America's debt problem. But before the nameplate is even installed on her office door, China strikes, engineering an American debt crisis that brings the country to the brink of collapse. Government operations come to a screeching halt. With the American hegemon on its knees, China violently seizes the opportunity to fulfill its territorial ambitions in Taiwan and the South China Sea. Thrust into the rapacious, cutthroat world of American politics and surrounded by crises on all sides, Andrea begins a desperate effort to save the United States. Arrayed against her are cynical politicians and belligerent military brass, some of whom just might be secret Chinese agents. Will Andrea be able to keep the United States alive to fight another day? Or will America drown in a sea of red ink at the hands of the Chinese and see its democratic government replaced by a Chinese Communist puppet regime? American life as we know it is about to be obliterated by a debt bomb. And the only person who can save the country is a suburban accountant.


Cato Handbook for Policymakers

Cato Handbook for Policymakers

Author: Cato Institute

Publisher: Cato Institute

Published: 2008

Total Pages: 698

ISBN-13: 1933995912

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Offers policy recommendations from Cato Institute experts on every major policy issue. Providing both in-depth analysis and concrete recommendations, the Handbook is an invaluable resource for policymakers and anyone else interested in securing liberty through limited government.


The Liquidation of Government Debt

The Liquidation of Government Debt

Author: Ms.Carmen Reinhart

Publisher: International Monetary Fund

Published: 2015-01-21

Total Pages: 47

ISBN-13: 1498338380

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High public debt often produces the drama of default and restructuring. But debt is also reduced through financial repression, a tax on bondholders and savers via negative or belowmarket real interest rates. After WWII, capital controls and regulatory restrictions created a captive audience for government debt, limiting tax-base erosion. Financial repression is most successful in liquidating debt when accompanied by inflation. For the advanced economies, real interest rates were negative 1⁄2 of the time during 1945–1980. Average annual interest expense savings for a 12—country sample range from about 1 to 5 percent of GDP for the full 1945–1980 period. We suggest that, once again, financial repression may be part of the toolkit deployed to cope with the most recent surge in public debt in advanced economies.


Debt Limit

Debt Limit

Author: D. A. Austin

Publisher: DIANE Publishing

Published: 2010-06

Total Pages: 24

ISBN-13: 1437930255

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This report discusses how the total debt of the federal government can increase, a historical overview of debt limits, and how the current economic slowdown has led to higher deficits and thereby a series of debt limit increases, as well as legislation related to these increases.


Tip and the Gipper

Tip and the Gipper

Author: Chris Matthews

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

Published: 2013-10-01

Total Pages: 448

ISBN-13: 1451696019

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The New York Times bestseller about the historic dealings between Ronald Reagan and Tip O’Neill—“A superb tribute to the neglected art of compromise” (Daily News (New York)). Tip and the Gipper is an “entertaining and insightful” (The Wall Street Journal) history of a time when two great political opponents served together for the benefit of the country. Chris Matthews was an eyewitness to this story as top aide to Speaker of the House Tip O’Neill, who waged a principled war of political ideals with President Ronald Reagan from 1980 to 1986. Together, the two men became one of history’s most celebrated political pairings—the epitome of how ideological opposites can get things done. When Reagan was elected to the presidency in a landslide victory over Jimmy Carter, Speaker O’Neill was thrust into the national spotlight as the highest-ranking leader of the Democratic Party—the most visible and respected challenger to President Reagan’s agenda of cutting the size of government programs and lowering tax rates. Together, the two leaders fought over the major issues of the day—welfare, taxes, covert military operations, and social security—but found their way to agreements that reformed taxes, saved Social Security, and, their common cause, set a course toward peace in Northern Ireland. Through it all they maintained respect for each other’s positions and worked to advance the country rather than obstruct progress. At the time of congressional gridlock, Tip and the Gipper stands as model behavior worthy of study by journalists, academics, and students of the political process for years to come. “This book is an invitation to join Tip and the Gipper in tall tales about how grand it was in the old country” (The Washington Post).


The Price of Politics

The Price of Politics

Author: Bob Woodward

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

Published: 2013-09-24

Total Pages: 614

ISBN-13: 1471133877

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Based on 18 months of reporting, Woodward's 17th book is an intimate, documented examination of how President Obama and the highest profile Republican and Democratic leaders in the United States Congress attempted to restore the American economy and improve the federal government's fiscal condition over three and one half years. Drawn from memos, contemporaneous meeting notes, emails and in-depth interviews with the central players, THE PRICE OF POLITICS addresses the key issue of the presidential and congressional campaigns: the condition of the American economy and how and why we got there. Providing verbatim, day-by-day, even hour-by-hour accounts, the book shows what really happened, what drove the debates, negotiations and struggles that define, and will continue to define, the American future.


In Defense of Public Debt

In Defense of Public Debt

Author: Barry Eichengreen

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2021-08-11

Total Pages: 321

ISBN-13: 0197577911

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A dive into the origins, management, and uses and misuses of sovereign debt through the ages. Public debts have exploded to levels unprecedented in modern history as governments responded to the Covid-19 pandemic and ensuing economic crisis. Their dramatic rise has prompted apocalyptic warnings about the dangers of heavy debtsabout the drag they will place on economic growth and the burden they represent for future generations. In Defense of Public Debt offers a sharp rejoinder to this view, marshaling the entire history of state-issued public debt to demonstrate its usefulness. Authors Barry Eichengreen, Asmaa El-Ganainy, Rui Esteves, and Kris James Mitchener argue that the ability of governments to issue debt has played a critical role in addressing emergenciesfrom wars and pandemics to economic and financial crises, as well as in funding essential public goods and services such as transportation, education, and healthcare. In these ways, the capacity to issue debt has been integral to state building and state survival. Transactions in public debt securities have also contributed to the development of private financial markets and, through this channel, to modern economic growth. None of this is to deny that debt problems, debt crises, and debt defaults occur. But these dramatic events, which attract much attention, are not the entire story. In Defense of Public Debt redresses the balance. The authors develop their arguments historically, recounting two millennia of public debt experience. They deploy a comprehensive database to identify the factors behind rising public debts and the circumstances under which high debts are successfully stabilized and brought down. Finally, they bring the story up to date, describing the role of public debt in managing the Covid-19 pandemic and recession, suggesting a way forward once governmentsnow more heavily indebted than beforefinally emerge from the crisis.