Restoring fiscal sanity, 2005 : meeting the long-run challenge /

In 2004, editors Rivlin and Sawhill (Brookings economists) commissioned papers by economists and other policy experts on the US federal deficits (Restoring Fiscal Sanity: How to Balance the Budget). With this new work, they have called upon the same authors to address federal budgeting challenges posed by two longer-term complementary problems--an aging US population and soaring Medicare and Medicaid costs. Individual contributions include essays on dimensions of the problem, the size and role of government, Social Security, health care, tax reform, and the politics of deficit reduction. On the whole, the volume tends to eschew polemics and the slightly-left-of-center Brookings slant to offer objective summaries, policy options, and well-reasoned recommendations. A book of this length cannot hope to cover all the background and contexts issues or do justice to the complexities and nuances, but it will engage the reader--and also provide ample notes on each agenda item. For those who care about the US's economic future, this and the earlier volume are well worth the time and effort needed to digest the arguments and data. ^BSumming Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduate through professional collections. A. R. Sanderson University of Chicago