Boomergeddon How Runaway Deficits and the Age Wave Will Bankrupt the Federal Government and Devastate Retirement for Baby Boomers Unless We Act Now
Boomergeddon How Runaway Deficits and the Age Wave Will Bankrupt the Federal Government and Devastate Retirement for Baby Boomers Unless We Act Now
Driven by uncontrolled deficit spending, a mounting national debt and rising interest rates on that debt, the U.S. government will go into default within the next 20 to 30 years. The resulting crisis will change the political landscape beyond recognition. It will mean the end of American empire, and it will shred the retirement safety net for tens of millions of Boomers and the generations that follow. Boomergeddon details how runaway health care costs and a global shift from capital surplus to
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Lucid analysis, sex, ice cream,
Don’t be fooled by the author’s occasional swipes at liberals. This book’s no Tea Party screed, but its refreshing approach takes both the “elephant clan” and the “donkey clan” to the woodshed, and relentlessly.
Boomergeddon’s analysis of what’s gone haywire is lucid, appropriately gloomy, but leavened with humor and good sense. That’s a rare gift for readers — it makes what could be a numbing diatribe an easy and highly informative read. Check out the section titled “Sex, drugs and rocky road ice cream.”
As for the author’s proposed remedies…that’s the beginning of an excellent conversation! One especially insightful chapter offers advice at the individual level, including the revolutionary but inarguable: stop buying so much stuff.
For fixes at the macro level — government policy — my long-time friend Jim has pulled together a truckload of solid research, and interpreted it compellingly. Buy this book, read it, take it seriously. Listen well to its critics. Then “give yourself a slap on your big, fat Boomer booty,” as the author advises, and make some careful plans.
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|Fascinating and Frightening,
This is an important work, essential reading for anyone with a future. Bacon lays it all out and explains why our ship of state is headed for an enormous iceberg of its own creation. He explains what we–the citizens–must do and have our representatives do to melt the iceberg of debt.
This is not some tedious, wonkish lecture. It is not a rehash of party lines. Bacon is fiercely independent and is unafraid to let all sides have it if they deserve it. Tapping his deep experience with the political classes and their machinations, and fortified by a bolus of skepticism, Bacon has poured over primary sources–the budget, OMB’s statements and a trove of other documents–and made the case that government is completely out of control, is indisposed toward self-control, and that Boomergeddon is coming unless we act now.
It’s chilling. It’s delightfully written. It’s absolutely fascinating. It will change the way you think about policy and politicians.
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|An Extraordinary Assimilation of Information,
Jim has done an extraordinary job of compiling and assimilating data relevant to our economic future and well-being. Some may be put off by his acknowledged “conservative” position but in reality he does a good job of cutting through or going above politics and ideology to examine immutable facts like the impact of interest rates or the result of different tax revenue assumptions. This is not an apology for any political point of view.
This is not a book to enjoy. But it is an extremely valuable read and resource for anyone who wants to have an informed conversation about viable economic and socio-economic policy. For example, if the reader is passionate about making health care available to all Americans, he or she must understand that there is cost, that it must be paid and have a credible strategy to do so. Or, if we consider ourselves rational and think that increased taxes is the answer or some form of austerity is the answer, we need to know what it is we are answering and the basis of that conviction. This book provides the data and resources to formulate or defend those positions.
Jim writes in a chatty, bloglike easy-to-read manner. The pain in reading the book is the enormity and complexity of the topic and the myriad issues to be incorporated into one’s analysis but, like chemo-therapy must be endured to combat cancer, understanding the patterns of this informational quilt is essential to tackling the issues. Read it. It’s worth it.
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