From the Economist’s award-winning “Buttonwood” columnist, a timely and incisive analysis of the crushing issue facing countries across the globe: debt.
With
the
ongoing
financial
and
political
uncertainty
in
Europe
and
the
economic
recovery
that
may
or
may
not
be
slowly
happening
in
the
U.S.,
prospects
for
2012
are
anything
but
certain.
In
PAPER
PROMISES,
the
Economist’s
Buttonwood
columnist
Philip
Coggan
assesses
the
defining
feature
of
our
economic
era:
debt.
For
the
past
forty
years,
western
economies
have
splurged
on
it.
Now,
it’s
reached
unsustainable
levels—far
more
debt
has
been
issued
than
can
be
repaid,
and
there
will
likely
be
significant
defaults.
But,
as
Coggan
demonstrates,
the
oncoming
crisis
has
a
time-worn
place
in
economic
history.
As
happened
in
the
1930s,
when
the
gold
standard
was
abandoned,
and
in
the
1970s,
when
fixed
exchange
rates
were
dropped,
governments
will
fall,
currencies
will
lose
their
value,
and
new
systems
will
emerge.
Britain
dictated
the
terms
of
the
international
system
in
the
19th
century,
and
America
in
the
20th
century,
and
Coggan
argues
that
a
new
system
will
be
shaped
by
the
rising
financial
powers
of
the
21st
century:
today’s
creditors
in
China
and
the
Middle
East.
In
the
process,
debt
issues
will
pit
the
interests
of
rich
against
poor,
young
against
old,
public
sector
workers
against
taxpayers,
and
one
country
against
another.
As
towns
across
the
U.S.
from
Harrisburg,
PA
to
Detroit
face
the
prospects
of
bankruptcy,
the
consequences
of
this
story
are
vast.
To
understand
the
origins
of
this
mess
and
how
it
will
affect
the
new
global
economy,
award-winning
financial
journalist
Coggan
shows
us
how
our
attitudes
toward
debt
have
changed
throughout
history—and
how
they
may
be
about
to
change
again.
Called
“a
remarkable
book
from
one
of
the
most
respected
economics
journalists
on
the
planet”
by
Tim
Harford,
author
of
The
Undercover
Economist,
PAPER
PROMISES
is
essential
reading
in
the
face
of
an
uncertain
new
economic
reality.
Biography:
Philip
Coggan
is
the
Buttonwood
columnist
of
the
Economist.
Previously,
he
worked
for
the
Financial
Times
for
20
years,
where
he
founded
the
“Short
View”
column
and
wrote
the
“Long
View”
and
“Last
Word”
columns.
In
2009,
he
was
voted
Senior
Financial
Journalist
of
the
Year
in
the
Wincott
Awards
and
Best
Communicator
in
the
Business
Journalist
of
the
Year
awards.
Among
his
books
are
The
Money
Machine,
a
guide
to
the
City
of
London
that
is
still
in
print
in
the
UK
after
twenty-five
years
and
The
Economist
Guide
to
Hedge
Funds.
NPR
Morning
Edition: Amid
Debt
Crisis,
A
Trail
of
Broken
‘Promises’
The
Economist: The
Debt
Crisis
–
Philip
Coggan
on
‘Paper
Promises’
