Blog Post #1

In One Nation Under Debt, author Robert E. Wright uses the metaphor of a life to explain the United States national debt. In the first three chapter he discusses “A Twinkle in the Eye,” (the importance of government debt), “Parentage” (European precedents), and “Conception” (the financing revolution). He explains the importance of our national debt and how it affects the people, as well as how it has changed so much over the past two centuries. The author discusses how the U.S. was “parented” by the English as colonies and prior to this the Europeans set many precedents for the country as a whole on debt and credit. Lastly, he discusses the creation of our debt and how it began with the birth of credit and how that affected our nation’s money supply. Just these first three chapters made me think about our debt more and how it greatly affects the nation. It is interesting to learn where all these trillions of dollars in debt came from and how it all began.

In American Economy, The Way to Wealth by Benjamin Franklin is presented. This is Franklin’s advice from his Poor Richard’s Almanac on “the way to wealth” meaning how to obtain wealth through things like agriculture, industry, and being frugal. In American Economy the reader also learns about the taxation of colonies by the British. This led to the Boston Tea Party, and eventually the American Revolution. These passages show how wealth affects our nation and how the money system can lead to war and destruction.