Do the authors come by their new legacy honestly?

The cover with this book makes the story sound like an episode of Dark Towers!

The Founding Fathers, Our National Debt, and Why It Matters To You 



"fascinating ... heated ... mired ... burning ... brink ... debasement! ... impotent ... harm ... forcing ... crucial ... slashed ... burgeoning ... proposes ... struggling ... compelling"  Oh my!  Breath slowly, and try not to blush.  They authors may be on something.  Can we force their accountants to provide a urine sample?

Maybe Warren Mosler should redesign the wrapper for the 7DIFS book. :(


Picture some guy with Big Hair & unbuttoned shirt, clutching a well-endowed, swooning heiress?  And just to be politically correct, the back cover could have a modern version, where heroine/hero both have persecuted siGOTHs, defiantly peering out from open closets?

What a mess.   A muddle, warped in a fuddle, from a forgotten inside joke?  At least the authors graciously discount said debt $20k per capita relative to Santelli's bid.   Is that a cynical twist on the original Bondage Holders Tax Writeoff?  Makes you wonder if these guys even know for sure who they work for.  Maybe their paycheck comes from Anonymous.

Yet have they been too loose with their essays?  Have they been drawn into an uncontrollable current as ancient forces rush on to an inevitable conclusion that will rip their world apart?  Is there already a shadow clearing house for consumer-default-credit-swipes?  Stay tuned for the thrilling finale!

I asked @deficitowl what avian species these living authors would be, but she mentioned an example disqualified by extinction.  I'm thinking ostrich, maybe?  Or maybe something that only flies like a bird, inhabits darkness & frequents belfries?  For some reason, the cowbird comes to mind.

Ok, for 50fiats, here's the first MikeNormanAvianCNS Sweepstakes!  Which living avian - or memetically engineered crossgreed - species best describes this camouflaged, mutant derivative of the terrorist DeficitHawk?

After suitable review, the usual order pecking the 99% will be posted home on derange, at MN-FowltyCowers (pending copyless issues).  Make your suggestions in the comments section.  Maybe we can get sponsors to send two Crested SlimPickers to view the secret reunion of the Koch bros & their missing brother Peterson (oops, did I just give away the whole plot? C'est la Ousterity).

From the book cover:


“A fascinating and lively history of how we got into this budgetary mess and a brilliant analysis, dispassionate and balanced, of what we need to do to get out of it.” — Liaquat Ahamed, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Lords of Finance


“Johnson and Kwak make a major and timely contribution to a national debate that will only get more heated in the years ahead.” — Mohamed A. El-Erian, CEO of PIMCO 


America is mired in debt—more than $30,000 for every man, woman, and child. Bitter fighting over deficits, taxes, and spending bedevils Washington, D.C., even as partisan gridlock has brought the government to the brink of default. Yet the more politicians on both sides of the aisle rant and the citizenry fumes, the more things seem to remain the same.


In White House Burning, Simon Johnson and James Kwak—authors of the national best seller 13 Bankers and cofounders of The Baseline Scenario, a widely cited blog on economics and public policy—demystify the national debt, explaining whence it came and, even more important, what it means to you and to future generations. They tell the story of the Founding Fathers’ divisive struggles over taxes and spending. They chart the rise of the almighty dollar, which makes it easy for the United States to borrow money. They account for the debasement of our political system in the 1980s and 1990s, which produced today’s dysfunctional and impotent Congress. And they show how, if we persist on our current course, the national debt will harm ordinary Americans by reducing the number of jobs, lowering living standards, increasing inequality, and forcing a sudden and drastic reduction in the government services we now take for granted.


But Johnson and Kwak also provide a clear and compelling vision for how our debt crisis can be solved while strengthening our economy and preserving the essential functions of government. They debunk the myth that such crucial programs as Social Security and Medicare must be slashed to the bone. White House Burning looks squarely at the burgeoning national debt and proposes to defuse its threat to our wellbeing without forcing struggling middle-class families and the elderly into poverty.


Carefully researched and informed by the same compelling storytelling and lucid analysis as 13 Bankers, White House Burning is an invaluable guide to the central political and economic issue of our time. It is certain to provoke vigorous debate.