Synopses & Reviews
When Bush came to office in 2001, the 10-year budget balance was officially projected to be at a surplus of $5.6 trillion. But after three big tax cuts, the bursting of the stock-market bubble, and the devastating effects of 9/11on the economy, the surplus has evaporated, and the deficit is expected to grow to $ 5-trillion over the next decade. The domestic deficit is only the half of it. Given our $500 billion trade deficit and our anemic savings rate, we depend on an unprecedented $2 billion of foreign capital every working day. If foreign confidence were to wane, this could lead to the dreaded hard landing.
Peter G. Peterson--a lifelong Republican, chairman of the Blackstone Group, and former secretary of commerce under Nixon--shatters the myths with hard facts and a harrowing view of the twin deficit's real impact. Republicans and Democrats alike have mortgaged America's future through reckless tax cuts, out-of-control spending and Enron-style accounting in Congress. And the situation will only get worse as the Baby Boom generation begins to retire, making unprecedented demands on entitlement programs like Social Security and Medicare. Despite what Bush says, we are on a path that could end in economic meltdown, and we simply cannot grow out of the deficit.
In Running On Empty, Peterson sounds the warning bell and prescribes a set of detailed solutions which, if implemented early, will prevent the need for draconian measures later. He takes us behind the politicians' smoke-and-mirror games, and forcefully explains what we must do to rescue the future of our country.
Review
"Sobering, urgent, and evenhanded." --Bryce Christensen, Booklist
"With precision and punch, Mr. Peterson...blames both parties for conniving against fiscal common sense, he puts the present administration in a class of its own....Mr. Peterson writes, 'This administration and the Republican Congress have presided over the biggest, most reckless deterioration of Americans finances in history.' Unfortunately, fixing the federal budget will require more than just cleaning up after the Bush administration, Mr. Peterson warns." --Christopher Caldwell, The New York Times
"Unusually clear and accessible, logically consistent, and highly convincing...It's a rare pleasure to see both political parties chastised equally." --Howard Marks, Los Angeles Times
"Lucid, powerful, and alarming...[By] the next presidential election (in 2008), the dire fiscal future that Peterson eloquently describes...will already have arrived." --Michael Mandelbaum, Newsday
"Unlike most analytic and policy-prescriptive books [Running on Empty] is lively and plainly written....[Peterson] is a certified establishmentarian. But he is also a Nebraska straight talker who calls em as he sees em....Persuasive...his 'Repent, for the end is near' warning is entirely appropriate." --Ted Van Dyk, The Washington Post
"Running on Empty far exceeds the sum of its statistics and predictions. For Peterson's book poses a central moral question: How much should America spend on the ‘past--benefits for retirees—at the expense of the ‘future—a growing economy for unborn generations?" --The New York Post
Review
"The problems we face are the combined product of decades-old policies and long-foreseen realities rising healthcare costs, increasing life spans, falling birthrates, a falling savings rate, a tendency to import more than we export. Despite years of warning, we have, amazingly, done nothing to avoid disaster. The really frightening thing is that even during this election year, Americans the candidates as well as the voters remain largely indifferent to the crisis. Running on Empty is a tour de force; even if you disagree with Peterson's proposed solutions, the book makes it almost impossible to deny that we do have problems. But will anyone listen to Peter Peterson this time?" Farhad Manjoo, Salon.com (read the entire Salon.com review)
Synopsis
Peterson--a lifelong Republican, chairman of the Blackstone Group, and former secretary of commerce under Nixon--reports that Republicans and Democrats alike have mortgaged America's future through reckless tax cuts, out-of-control spending and Enron-style accounting in Congress. In this book, he sounds the warning bell and prescribes a set of detailed solutions.
Synopsis
The national bestseller, described by Tom Brokaw as the “wake-up call we cannot ignore,” with a new preface by the author
Acclaimed by all sides of the political spectrum, Peter Peterson's Running on Empty not only traces the deterioration of Americas finances but offers solutions. This national bestseller is required reading for everyone concerned with Americas long-term economic survival. In clear and concise prose, Peterson offers America not only a vision but the practical steps by which to ensure our childrens economic future. Running on Empty is not only a warning, it is also a manifesto calling for the next administration to finally confront a deep and disturbing problem that politicians of all parties have insisted on ignoring for too long.
About the Author
Peter G. Peterson is the author of
Gray Dawn: How the Coming Age Wave Will Transform America--and the World. He is chairman of The Blackstone Group and chairman
of The Council on Foreign Relations.