Congress finally took action, but the issues of the Fiscal Cliff still loom in the future. We'll be tumbling down this Fiscal Cliff for a few years, folks. This short book reviews the issues that faced us in the original Fiscal Cliff. Most of those issues remain as of this writing (July, 2014). Do you know the effect the Fiscal Cliff can have on you and your family? Do you know how to prepare for it? You CAN do some things to help yourself now. Get informed and take action now.

In the coming pages I will pose many questions, which each person should answer for themselves. Each persons situation is different and should be handled in such. I do not pretend this book is a complete guide, because there is no such thing. But I do hope it will help in preparing for what ever may come.

The federal government has failed to adequately regulate free market capitalism in the United States. Understanding how we got to this point is the first step in figuring out how to fix the economy. It is still possible to help the forgotten middle class, create jobs, and provide mortgage relief to homeowners. In this guidebook to perpetuating American greatness, Stephen J. Feinberg introduces Jump Start America Bonds to encourage cash-rich businesses and individuals to invest in transportation infrastructure construction projects to create jobs. He proposes a US mortgage court to oversee the restructuring of home mortgages on terms that would give relief to homeowners and end the housing crisis. He also explores other key issues, such as the federal deficit, income and estate tax fairness, and ways to better regulate banks and the securities markets. Throughout his study, Feinberg seeks to help America recover by providing a concrete plan to reverse the economic decline and return the country to economic greatness once again.

"'A Fiscal Cliff' is precisely the right book for perilous fiscal times. Giants in economics and public policy offer a spirited defense of fiscal rules critically needed to protect our children and grandchildren from a bleak future." -Richard K. Vedder, Distinguished Professor of Economics Emeritus, Ohio University/p> The unsustainable, and still rapidly growing, U.S. federal government debt is a classic case of ‘'in denial.” Indeed, we are no closer to a solution to the debt crisis than we were ten years ago when the Simpson-Bowles Commission issued a report with recommendations to address the nation's debt crisis. The bipartisan Commission fell short of the supermajority vote required to submit their recommendations to Congress. President Trump declared a debt crisis, but didn't act like it. Various commissions and think tanks have made numerous recommendations. In 2019, a Congressional Committee was appointed to recommend budget process reforms, but that Committee could not agree on any recommendations to submit to Congress. While the dominant sentiment is that maybe if we ignore it, it will just go away, the debt crisis will not just vanish. A Fiscal Cliff: New Perspectives on the U.S. Debt Crisis is a timely addition to a critical policy discussion.

While many associate the concept commonly referred to as the “military-industrial complex” with President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s 1961 farewell address, the roots of it existed two hundred years earlier. This concept, as Benjamin Franklin Cooling writes, was “part of historical lore” as a burgeoning American nation discovered the inextricable relationship between arms and the State. In Arming America through the Centuries, Cooling examines the origins and development of the military-industrial complex (MIC) over the course of American history. He argues that the evolution of America’s military-industrial-business-political experience is the basis for a contemporary American Sparta. Cooling explores the influence of industry on security, the increasing prevalence of outsourcing, ever-present economic and political influence, and the evolving nature of modern warfare. He connects the budding military-industrial relations of the colonial era and Industrial Revolution to their formal interdependence during the Cold War down to the present-day resurrection of Great Power competition. Across eight chronological chapters, Cooling weaves together threads of industry, finance, privatization, appropriations, and technology to create a rich historical tapestry of US national defense in one comprehensive volume. Integrating information from both recent works as well as canonical, older sources, Cooling’s ambitious single-volume synthesis is a uniquely accessible and illuminating survey not only for scholars and policymakers but for students and general readers as well.