This book is about the mismanagement of Western economies in pursuit of political power, which resulting devastation will have to be borne by future generations. The book establishes that postponement is no longer doable and lays out the hard choices ahead causing much misery and agony.
Although not fully recognized because of masking by asset bubbles, which are spun/sold as investor confidence in the economy, the reaction to the phenomenon of lost hope in the future has already started. By chasing economic growth and political power, developed countries worldwide have destroyed their economies. Recovery would bring many hardships and pain to their populations. Americans, primarily white and middle-aged, are dying in record numbers from what Drs. Case & Deaton describes as "Deaths of Despair." Their government's reaction is to turn to protectionism. In the USA, this has taken the form of strengthening the Buy America Act of 1933, applying trade tariffs, and increasing subsidies to companies building facilities in the Country. These are all superficial fixes and will do nothing to correct the problem.
Market-driven solutions have given way to protectionist ones as policymakers continue to kick problems down the road for others to deal with. All issues the developed countries face, whether they are excessive and unsustainable debt, over-priced labor from targeting inflation, and mal-distribution of income and wealth distorting the resultant demand/savings relationships, have their roots in fiat currencies. So much public debt has been accumulated that it cannot and will not be repaid.
The genesis of the problem was in 1971 when President Nixon abolished the gold standard established at Bretton Woods in 1944. Currencies were then given value by government decree and no longer had intrinsic value. This allowed for large budget deficits, unsustainable public debt, and the money "printing-press operation." The public debt of the USA has already exceeded $32 trillion, an astronomical number. It allowed countries to incorporate inflation in their economic planning, thus raising their costs of living. It also allowed for increases in the money supply with the consequence of widening income and wealth inequality. Corrective action would involve backing currencies with the Country's assets, eliminating/reducing debt unless for investment, prohibiting the targeting/planning of inflation, and establishing a relationship between the highest and lowest paid in an economy. The book proposes novel approaches to these issues, including income support for those impacted by these corrective measures, for developed countries have arrived at the end of the road.