Books : Where Does the Money Go?: Your Guided Tour to the Federal Budget Crisis
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- Very Good OverviewThis book is a very good overview and presentation of the problems that we face with the Federal budget. Unlike us (for the most part) the government is able to spend pretty much freely regardless of the consequences to the dollar and our economy.
This book is easy to read with good information and graphs showing what is going on and if you are not very familiar with the Federal Budget or the overall issues this book is a very good place to begin.
Easy to read and understand and reading this will give you some more awareness. Of course further reading on the subject is a good idea if you want to get more into the details - the subject matter is daunting and extensive and this book is more of a primer - but like I said a very good read regardless.
Highly recommended.
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- book group liked this bookI picked this up because it was a staff pick at a bookstore this summer. I consider myself reasonably well-informed on news and general economic issues, but I learned something new from every chapter of this relatively short but extremely well-written book. The authors aren't partisan and ask thought-provoking questions throughout. I recommended it to our book group (whose usual preference is for fiction) and everyone found it worthwhile reading. Our group includes both democrats and republicans, and all of us thought the book was important, very readable, something we would recommend for everyone to read. It prompted us to talk extensively about the challenges faced by increasing national debt and deficit, and to discuss possible ways to modify social security and medicare so that the systems will remain solvent. One of the last chapters includes a detailed map of the federal budget, which we read while appreciating that Obama's transition team must be studying exactly the same information with the charge of suggesting budgetary modifications. Highly recommended for anyone from high school to senior citizens.
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- Great Balanced CommentaryEven though the election is now over, don't think that you can stop caring about the Federal Budget Crisis. In this book, the authors give an incisive and balanced look at the budget, and why it's not working. More importantly, there is a great deal of discussion on what you should and should not believe when it comes to political jargon, or biased pundit commentary. I recommend this book to everyone, as it is a great starting point to understand not only the budget, but also issues like Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, and how they relate to budget policy.
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- Important for future generationsA very easy and informative read which lays out the issues very clearly and recognizes the need for them to be addressed now. I've recomended the book to all my friends and have purchased copies for my family.
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- Too much fluff'Where Does the Money Go' is an objective, easy, and informative read for anyone interested in the spending habits of our Federal government. It contains many important and up-to-date statistics, helpful graphs/charts, and an overwhelming amount of reference for further reading. Furthermore, there is a very interesting chapter that lays out the budget and lets you play politician; you allocate money based on your personal opinions and you discover where your budget ends up. This exercise puts a little substance to all of the reading.
While I do think this book is a good read, especially during a time with the big promises from our Presidential nominees and multi-billion dollar bailouts, I found this book to be a bit fluff. There first 150+ pages were good, but after that the book seems to drag on. Given the fact that this book is more of a broad introduction to the subject, it should have been wrapped up in 150-200 pages, not 300+. The last few chapters drift off subject.
