"Early reviewers have dubbed I.O.U.S.A. An Inconvenient Truth for the economy."

—The Washington Post

"The next president better take this seriously, or I fear that we'll be in a much worse situation than a recession."

—David Walker, former Comptroller General of the United States

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 Debtauthor 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Armed with these interviews, historical references, and damning statistics, the book takes a lively and entertaining romp through the four deficits the nation faces: the budget deficit, the personal savings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.

The authors (the publisher and managing and editor of The Daily Reckoning, a financial newsletter associated with the investment research firm, Agora Financial) present a companion volume to the eponymous documentary. It first sets out the documentary's basic message concerning the dangers of American debt, addressing the budget deficit, the savings deficit, the trade deficit, and the lack of leadership we have for addressing the problem (the "leadership deficit"). It then provides transcripts of interviews (not found in the film) with Alice Rivlin, the first director of the Congressional Budget Office; economist William Bonner; Chairman of Citigroup and Barack Obama economic advisor Robert Rubin; House Representatives Pete Peterson and Ron Paul; former Chairman of the Federal Reserve Paul Volcker; investor Warren Buffett; Wall Street Journal reporter James Areddy; former Secretary of the Treasury Paul O'Neill; conservative economist Arthur Laffer; and editor-in-chief of Forbes magazine, Steve Forbes. Annotation ©2009 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

'Praise for the theatrical version of I.O.U.S.A.:

\"I.O.U.S.A. is a clear, cogent and compelling primer on contemporary American economics and the not-so-small matter of how we ended up at the edge of a precipice.\" — Toronto Star

\"The buck stops here in this sobering but disarmingly irreverent look at the national debt.\" — Hollywood Reporter

I.O.U.S.A. | 3.5 Stars! \"...it accomplishes an amazing thing. It explains the national debt, the foreign trade deficit, the decrease in personal savings, how the prime interest rate works, and the weakness of our leaders.\" — Roger Ebert

\"An alternately amusing and alarming primer on America\'s off-the-charts fiscal irresponsibility.\" — Variety

\"Equal parts enlightening and alarming, \"I.O.U.S.A.\" highlights our unwise preference for short-term reward over long-term planning.\" NY Times

\"For anyone seeking a clearer understanding of the financial state of the union — and strong enough to take the sobering news — [I.O.U.S.A.] is a good place to start.\" LA Times

\"Some even wonder if it might do for the economy what Al Gore’s \"An Inconvenient Truth\" did for the environment...\"I.O.U.S.A\" is a bold attempt to highlight a potentially huge problem.\" — The Economist '

"I.O.U.S.A."--published to coincide with the release of a new feature-length documentary--highlights stories about the people involved in making the nation's financial decisions.

I.O.U.S.A. will accompany a new feature-length documentary based on the writings of Agora's The Daily Reckoning. According to filmmaker Patrick Creadon, "America's federal debt is $8.6 trillion and growing at a frightening rate. In addition, our major entitlement programs (Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid) are dangerously unfunded. As a country, we are slowly spending ourselves to death."

I.O.U.S.A. also picks up where the best-selling Empire of Debtleft off. It will feature stories about the people involved in making decisions about the four major deficits in the country (federal deficit, trade deficit, savings deficit, and leadership deficit). Interviews have already been conducted with Warren Buffet, Robert Rubin, Alice Rivlin, Pete Peterson, David Walker, Paul O'Neill, James Areddy, and Bill Bonner.

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, this companion book to the critically acclaimed documentary I.O.U.S.Atalks with some of the most revered voices in the nation, including Warren Buffett; former Treasury Secretaries Paul O'Neill and Robert Rubin; and Pete Peterson, CEO of The Blackstone Group. Defiantly non-partisan, the empowering solutions outlined in these pages are a must-read for any American concerned about the current state of affairs.

Addison Wigginis the Executive Publisher of Agora Financial, an investment research firm based in Baltimore, Maryland. Agora publishes The Daily Reckoning, a financial newsletter with more than 500,000 readers in the United States, Great Britain, and Australia, and is translated daily into French, German, and Spanish (www.dailyreckoning.com). It has received praise from mainstream publications, including Money, New York Times Magazine, and MarketWatch.com. Mr. Wiggin is the coauthor with Bill Bonner of the international bestsellers Financial Reckoning Dayand Empire of Debt, and author of The Demise of the Dollar . . . And Why It's Even Better for Your Investments. He is also the Executive Producer and a writer of the feature-length documentary film I.O.U.S.A., which was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival.

Kate Incontrerais the Managing Editor of The Daily Reckoning. Ms. Incontrera was also an associate producer and writer on the critically acclaimed documentary film I.O.U.S.A. Before joining Agora Financial in 2004, Ms. Incontrera studied writing at the University of Cambridge and Towson University in Baltimore, Maryland.

Foreword.

I.O.U.S.A. Cast of Characters.

Acknowledgments.

Part One: The Mission.

The Mission.

Chapter 1 The Real State of the Union.

Chapter 2 The Budget Deficit.

Chapter 3 The Savings Deficit.

Chapter 4 The Trade Deficit.

Chapter 5 The Leadership Deficit

Epilogue.

Part Two: The Interviews.

The Interviews.

Alice Rivlin.

William Bonner.

Robert Rubin.

Peter G. Peterson.

Ron Paul.

Paul A. Volcker.

Dr. Alan Greenspan.

Warren Buffett.

James Areddy.

Paul O’Neill.

Arthur Laffer.

Steve Forbes.

Additional Resources.

Index.