The Age of Austerity

November 28, 2011
In this erudite primer on the conditions that have brought us to this moment of economic crisis, journalist and Columbia University professor Edsall (Chain Reaction) argues that the U.S. faces a future of diminished resources, and, as a result of partisan intractability, the possibility that we won’t overcome current challenges to long-term prosperity. Tracing the moral underpinnings of the conflict between Democrats and Republicans, Edsall explains how the parties’ value systems differ on such concepts as freedom, liberty, fairness, and the collective good. “The United States is now split ideologically to the extent that falsehoods to one faction are truths to the other,” he writes. In this atmosphere, elected officials choose political victory over socially or economically beneficial action. While Washington protects its interests and those of the wealthiest Americans, the rest of the country faces soaring costs, crumbling infrastructure, and diminishing opportunities for education, jobs, and overall quality of life. Providing ample sociological and economic evidence via descriptive graphs and in-depth analysis, Edsall argues that decisions are being shaped by the destructive politics of scarcity, and that without decisive action to reverse the course of our sagging economy, we’re destined to fall behind. Although perhaps too academic in tone for a general audience, the book illuminates hard but necessary truths.

November 15, 2011
New Republic and National Journal correspondent Edsall (Public Affairs Journalism/Columbia Univ.; Building Red America: The New Conservative Coalition and the Drive For Permanent Power, 2006, etc.) returns with a heavily documented elaboration of his thesis that austerity will continue to polarize the country. The author pulls few punches in this grim account of where we are and where we're heading. From the first page ("A brutish future stands before us"), he points repeatedly to the essential conflict in the country: In periods of austerity, the haves will fight desperately to keep their assets; the have-nots will suffer. Edsall argues that President Obama fell into a GOP pit when he focused on debts and deficits, traditional Republican issues (at least when they are not in power); he handed the agenda to them, and the power-shifting mid-term elections of 2010 granted the GOP the political clout they'd lost in 2008. Throughout, Edsall marshals statistical data (the text is chockablock with charts and graphs) to quantify what has become common political sense: The Left and the Right are fundamentally different--not just politically but economically, morally and psychologically. He recognizes the monolithic character of the GOP legislators and the elasticity of the Democrats. Republican voters, he writes, do not want cuts in Medicare, Social Security and defense spending (programs from which they benefit), but they are willing and often eager to support cuts in programs that principally benefit the poor. Edsall examines a number of key events that illustrate the divide: Medicaid cuts in Arizona, anti-immigration laws, busing conflicts in North Carolina, the flow of jobs overseas and more. Although the author begins in fairly evenhanded fashion, the current of his argument eventually runs to the left. Perhaps too Lefty for the Righties, but a stark snapshot of the present and a dark view of the future.

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September 15, 2011

How long do we continue unemployment benefits? How do we cope with local cuts in garbage collection, police protection, and, yes, library budgets? Political editor at the Huffington Post, Edsall doesn't necessarily have answers. But he shows us how to frame the questions, stressing that we are currently facing a world without enough to go around. Drawn on a high-profile New Republic story; serious stuff.

Copyright 2011 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.