I.O.U.S.A.

[Grant]

http://www.iousathemovie.com/images/iousa-poster-large.jpg

Thought I'd post this (recently released) poster up here.

I know the US is in some SERIOUS debt at the moment. Are things as bad as this poster makes them out to be?

Edited September 7, 2008 by Grant

[Steve D'Ippolito]

Hmm, a movie?

I wonder, does the movie make the same mistakes most people do, confusing the federal government's debt with the "trade deficit" and/or the burgeoning indebtedness of most individuals in US?

Even if not, it won't make much difference because everyone will leave the theater convinced that other peoples' pet programs should be cut. There is a tendency to blame the debt on foreign aid, pork barrel spending, and congressional perks and salaries; the elimination of all three of these wouldn't make so much as a dent in the federal budget. (I leave out, because it is symptomatic of the confusion I referenced above, people who assume the federal debt is the size it is because (to paraphrase their thoughts) "we are sending all our money overseas to buy oil and stuff from China"; the confusion there is at multiple levels.)

The problem really comes down to people voting themselves other peoples' money and politicians willing to help them out by 1) helping them evade the fact that its other peoples' money (social security "accounts" that do not actually exist come to mind here), 2) creating debt to pay for the program rather than actually taxing someone else, or 3) just going for it and explicitly robbing Peter to pay Paul. Compared to this, running up your credit cards is actually honest. And the trade deficit isn't actually a problem.

[Mammon]

From the website:

Wake up, America! We're on the brink of a financial meltdown. I.O.U.S.A. boldly examines the rapidly growing national debt and its consequences for the United States and its citizens. Burdened with an ever-expanding government and military, increased international competition, overextended entitlement programs, and debts to foreign countries that are becoming impossible to honor, America must mend its spendthrift ways or face an economic disaster of epic proportions.

Throughout history, the American government has found it nearly impossible to spend only what has been raised through taxes. Wielding candid interviews with both average American taxpayers and government officials, Sundance veteran Patrick Creadon (Wordplay) helps demystify the nation's financial practices and policies. The film follows former U.S. Comptroller General David Walker as he crisscrosses the country explaining America's unsustainable fiscal policies to its citizens.

With surgical precision, Creadon interweaves archival footage and economic data to paint a vivid and alarming profile of America's current economic situation. The ultimate power of I.O.U.S.A. is that the film moves beyond doomsday rhetoric to proffer potential financial scenarios and propose solutions about how we can recreate a fiscally sound nation for future generations.

Creadon uses candid interviews and his featured subjects include Warren Buffett, Alan Greenspan, Paul O'Neill, Robert Rubin, and Paul Volcker, along with the Peter G. Peterson Foundation's own David Walker and Bob Bixby of the Concord Coalition, a Foundation grantee.

Pointedly topical and consummately nonpartisan, I.O.U.S.A. drives home the message that the only time for America's financial future is now.

It's talking about the debt that U.S. uses to raise money to support the government, debt in the form of T-Bills and bonds. It's a very real problem, one you guys should be educated about if you want to understand the current state of capitalism in the real world.

The United States Government has never defaulted on it's debts.... that time might be coming to an end.

Edited September 7, 2008 by Mammon