Great standard Stossel tract on a litany of government attempts at solving real world problems and screwing everything up worse. ( )

Refined arguments these are not but he does make some good points. Most of it would work a lot better shouted than in book form. I'm not American so I have no idea who John Stossel but I imagine he's well known because of the way he talks about himself (a lot) and the general level of smugness. If you "discover" the DNA or land on the moon you get to be smug all you want, just being smug as a character trait is a bit off-putting. ( )

John Stossel is clearly a Libertarian, and has the same philosophical leanings as Ron Paul and Judge Andrew Napolitano. If that kind of thinking is to your liking, then you will enjoy this book. If not, you will likely wonder how people can have such radical thinking.

I enjoyed it and found many facts that were new to me. Our government seems so out of control in both its spending habits and in departures from its Constitutional role. Stossel re-confirms this many times over. He does not hold out much hope for solution, but does conclude the book with a list of budget cuts that he would like to see happen, and which would possibly return us to a sound monetary footing.

The libertarians are terrific at pinpointing the issues we face. The Tea Party types are terrific at acknowledging that something must be done, and backing candidates who will make the right kind of noises when elected.

My view is that there can be no real political solution because Americans as a whole are nowhere near being prepared for the medicine needed. Thus any politician who seriously advances the needed changes will be ostracized and labeled a Dunce both by their colleagues as well as the American public. Neutered is a good word. Imagine Ron Paul as President…he would have zero impact because no one would support his policies.

Solution, if one is actually available cannot become available until the crisis grows much much worse. Only then will politicians have the capability of claiming the needed cuts AND being believed.

And I believe the crisis will indeed become much worse. Likely events to unfold: a collapse of housing prices, much worse than today; rampant inflation caused by the huge spending run-ups of the last 2 decades; a possible default by the government on its debts; a collapse in the value of the dollar; a loss of confidence by foreign investors; very high interest rates that make borrowing out of reach for many, perhaps most.

Once those events unfold, only then will politicians have the needed cover to implement things like massive cuts in military spending, elimination of Departments of Energy, Education, HUD and the SBA, to name a few. Only then can entitlement programs like Social Security and Medicare be radically pared down to balance the outflows with the inflows.

The final chapter in Stossel's book ends with a subchapter he calls “Running Out of Time”. That perhaps should be the title of his next book. We are about there. Americans and their representatives live in denial. We have now reached that point where we can prepare for the looming economic Armageddon ahead. How much time remains is unknown, but those among us who are believers, we could sure use some guidance on preparing for that new era.

Hopefully, I’m dead wrong about all this outcome. I don’t think so. Stossel I’m sure would not bet against me. ( )