White House Burning
  • Published: 15 February 2013
  • ISBN: 9780307947642
  • Imprint: Knopf US
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 384
  • RRP: $45.00

White House Burning

The Founding Fathers, Our National Debt, and Why It Matters to You

Buy from…
Amazon Booktopia Dymocks QBD Readings Your Bookstore Abbeys Boomerang Find local retailers Find local retailers Collins Fishpond Gleebooks Harry Hartog Kinokuniya Robinsons The Nile Mighty Ape

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 is to be done.

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.
  • Published: 15 February 2013
  • ISBN: 9780307947642
  • Imprint: Knopf US
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 384
  • RRP: $45.00
Categories:

About the author

SIMON JOHNSON

Simon Johnson is Ronald A. Kurtz Professor of Entrepreneurship at MIT’s Sloan School of Management and a senior fellow of the Peterson Institute for International Economics. He is coauthor, with James Kwak, of The Baseline Scenario, a leading economic blog, described by Paul Krugman as “a must-read” and by Bill Moyers as “one of the most informative news sites in the blogosphere.”

Also by SIMON JOHNSON

13 Bankers
See all

Praise for White House Burning

  • COVER QUOTE: "This is the kind of important, informed, and accessible book a democracy can't do without." --Noah Feldman, Bemis Professor of Law, Harvard Law School
  • "A must-read for anyone who wishes to understand the true nature of our fiscal problems. A fascinating and lively history of how we got into this budgetary mess and a brilliant analysis, dispassionate and balanced, of what we need to do to get out of it." --Liaquat Ahamed, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Lords of Finance

  • COVER QUOTE: "This is the kind of important, informed, and accessible book a democracy can't do without." --Noah Feldman, Bemis Professor of Law, Harvard Law School
  • "A must-read for anyone who wishes to understand the true nature of our fiscal problems. A fascinating and lively history of how we got into this budgetary mess and a brilliant analysis, dispassionate and balanced, of what we need to do to get out of it." --Liaquat Ahamed, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Lords of Finance

    • penguin pop image
    penguin pop image