Running On Empty
How The Democratic and Republican Parties Are Bankrupting Our Future and What Americans Can Do About It
Preface
WHY THIS BOOK NOW?
Less than three short years after America absorbed the double blows of 9/11
and the collapse of the bubble economy, a new mood of triumphalism reemerged
in many quarters. Saddam Hussein was dragged from his spider hole and
humiliated before the world. Inflation and interest rates remained low while
productivity and profits soared. The stock market roared back and investors
began reading their statements again. So quick was the rise in manufacturing
and consumption that freight backed up on the nation's railroads and
waterways.
Yet if it seemed the dawn of another "Morning in America," many Americans
still felt a chill in the air: at what price did America purchase its
recovery? Yes, nearly everyone agreed that tax cuts and a big run in federal
spending had helped to stimulate the economy. Everyone agreed the Fed had
been right to cut interest rates. But even after three big tax cuts in a row,
a boom in home refinancing, and zero p ... read full excerpt from Running on Empty: How the Democratic and Republican Parties Are Bankrupting Our Future and What Americans Can Do about It ebook
