Balancing Act: Washington's Troubled Path to a Balanced Budget

By George Hager

Book Overview

"A compelling book on budget-balancing, past and present. Not only is it a useful historical reference work but it is amazingly relevant to today's headlines." --Business Week Why did it take... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0679756078
• ISBN13: 9780679756071
• Release Date: September 1998
• Publisher: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
• Length: 368 Pages
• Weight: 1.45 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.5" x 8.7"

Customer Reviews

Even more relevant in 2009

I picked this up at a used book store. I agree with previous reviews that it reads like a novel. Many of the players in the budget wars of the 90's (Clinton, Gingrich, Boenher, Armey etc) are still in the news today (2009), as are the challenges that face the country as it grapples with budgets. So far I have found this book to be very non-partisan - it exposes areas in which politicians on both sides of the aisle try to spin the facts to suit their own purposes while neither praising nor condemning either party. I think this should be required reading as a starting point for understanding where we are today and how we got here.

This thorough and enjoyable book reads like a good novel!

When assigned to read a book that covered the history of the budget deficit crisis for my Grad school class I was less than overwhelmed with excitement. However, these authors make the complicated history of the budget so interesting and gripping, I couldnt put it down. Though a slow reader, i must admit, I was able to finish this off in less than a week. The discussions it inspired in class were lively and germane to the world today. I could not recommend this book more highly!

Great book, but it's Mirage, which they published in 1997

This is almost the same book as Mirage, published by the same authors in 1997. The only difference I noticed after a quick review in the bookstore is the addition of a 20-25 page epilogue that deals with the recent budget surplus and how it came to be. The epilogue is good, but I wish it were longer.Mirage/Balancing Act is a great book. If you read David Stockman's The Triumph of Politics, and wondered how we got out of the budgetary hole in which we found ourselves about the time of Stockman's departure, Mirage/Balancing Act is an fascinating update. Happily, Mirage/Balancing Act is even more balanced than Stockman's work. Hager and Pianin have a transparent writing style that is a pleasure to read. As a result, the reader effortlessly absorbs the detailed information that they present.Perhaps Mirage/Balancing Act will receive the attention it merits when Congress and the President face up to the still-considerable budgetary issues that remain to be resolved on a more permanent basis than they have been to date. Read this book and stay tuned.