Bucking the deficit

Why have the monsters of public finance - pork-barrel spending, entitlements, and the deficit - remained unchecked for so long? What effects have they had on our economy and our politics? In this concise, well-written primer of American political economy, political scientist Cal Mackenzie and economist Saranna Thornton combine forces to clear up some of the mysteries of contemporary economic theory and practice.

They take us on a sweeping tour of the economic turning points in our national history and then go on to discuss what it will take to make sound economic policy and, ultimately, good government for the twenty-first century.