"'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.

To embrace a solution, first you had better understand the problem. THE FISCAL CLIFF is a timely, no-nonsense account of our country's current financial predicament and the precipitous fall that may soon come. Using the most up-to-date government and private sector data, economists Ayse Imrohoroglu and Selahattin Imrohoroglu offer a nuts-and-bolts primer to those who want to better understand the real fiscal crisis behind today's headlines and rhetoric. Unafraid to mince words, these authors recount the good, the bad, and the ugly of America's economic past, present, and future. Invoking two key economic principles, the Imrohoroglus highlight a specific bipartisan budget proposal as one possible means for the United States to avert financial calamity. They make a quantitative, qualitative, and compelling case. By all means, check their work.

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.

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 hardworking 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.

Many American cities are under fiscal assault. Rising pension costs, diminishing tax bases, and middle class flight have created a fiscal cliff for many American cities. Many cities have already become dysfunctional and unable to meet their basic responsibilities of providing adequate public safety, housing, education opportunities, and health care to its citizenry. Worst yet, due to middle class flight and the corresponding flight of jobs, the citizenry in these cities have a greater and greater concentration of poverty. These “declining” cities are less able to provide basic services to a citizenry which is in greater need of those services. The bankruptcy filing of Detroit is only the tip of the iceberg. Unless solutions are identified and enacted quickly, many more American cities will face Detroit's fate. The Fiscal Cliff describes the intricacies of the fiscal problems encountered by many American cities and identifies solutions which address these issues. Mayors of these declining cities continue to grope for idyllic and quick fix solutions to their declining tax base such as casinos or convention centers. However, the solutions to these vexing problems must be predicated on a correct understanding of the problem. Declining cities have undergone decades of structural change to its population and economic base. The Fiscal Cliff proposes real solutions which acknowledge these structural changes. The Fiscal Cliff is a worthwhile read for anyone interested in social inequality, urban planning, or urban politics..The writing style is not academic but one which many readers can easily relate to (i.e Jane Jacobs meets Malcolm Gladwell). Over 13,000,000 people live in declining American cities. If the municipalities these people live in cannot provide them with basic public services such as heath care, education, public safety or decent housing, it should be a concern for every American.