I.O.U.S.A. Read Online Free PDF

four selected for viewing at both the Democratic and Republican national party conventions.
    The timing of the debut of the fi lm on the national scene and the release of this book couldn ’ t be more appropriate. Over the course of the project, the national debt alone has provided ample proof of what negative compounding can do to a balance sheet. At the time we were mailing Empire of Debt to Congress, and David Walker was sounding the alarm at the National Press Club, the national debt stood at $4.7 trillion. We didn ’ t want to believe the $8 trillion the Levy Institute projected by 2008.
    Unfortunately, their projections fell signifi cantly short. On August 31, 2007, the debt hit $8 trillion. As I.O.U.S.A. debuted in theatres in August 2008, the debt spiraled over $9 trillion.
    The promises on the books for all of the federal obligations, including Social Security and Medicare programs, already exceeds $53 trillion
    — a number so monumental it makes
    understanding the scope of the obligation next to impossible.
    To meet its current obligations, the U.S. government racks up another $1.86 billion of debt every day. In very simple terms, every citizen already “ owes ” over $32,000. By 2010, that fi gure will be $38,000. By 2017, Social Security will no longer run surpluses and, thus, will no longer help fund the government’s other activities. From that point forward, the debt compounds negatively—and in dramatic fashion.
    What ’ s at stake? The U.S. government is going broke. At this rate it won ’ t be able to do what you believe it can do. One study, conducted by the National Center for Policy Analysis (NCAP), suggests that without meaningful increases in government revenues and reform of the entitlement programs:
    • By 2012, the federal government will stop doing 1 in 10
    things it ’ s doing now.
    • By 2020, the federal government will stop doing 1 in 4.
    • By 2030, the federal government will stop performing half of the services it provides.
    • By 2050, Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid will consume nearly the entire federal budget.
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    The Mission 13
    • By 2082, Medicare spending alone will consume nearly the entire federal budget.
    At the current rate, it ’ s inevitable: Most Americans are going to have to rethink what they expect from their government. Do politicians need to be held accountable for the promises they make during election campaigns? Seems like a natural. But individuals need to take responsibility for their own fi nancial future, too. Planning better, saving, and investing wisely in private life will make it easier for policy makers to make diffi cult decisions regarding the fi nances of the government.
    ■ ■ ■
    We have set this book up in a different fashion than Empire of Debt or Demise of the Dollar. The fi rst part, “ The Mission, ” can be read almost as if it ’ s a play — a tragicomedy of sorts. It ’ s a primer if you ’ re seeking a basic understanding of the nation ’ s biggest economic challenges, both public and private.
    If you ’ d like to dig a little deeper, we ’ ve printed the full transcripts of all the interviews we conducted in the second part, “ The Interviews. ” There is no shortage of ideas, fi ery discussion, and infl ammatory statements. Some readers will want this book to be an attack on one party at the behest of the other. Still others will want us to throw Molotov cock-tails at the Establishment and suggest the United States government is a failure and deserves what it has coming. In this book, as in the fi lm, we do neither. We reserve those activities for other more appropriate locales.
    Together, the book and fi lm do provide a unique slice of contemporary economic history in the United States early in the twenty - fi rst century. With any luck, we ’ ll make fi scal responsibility hip in Washington again and inject the themes of the book and the fi lm into the national