I.O.U.S.A. (2008)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I.O.U.S.A. is a documentary film which premiered in 2008.

 

As the title indicates, the topic of this film is the American economy with special focus on the national debt.

 

Here is some basic information about this film:

 

** Director: Patrick Creadon

** Writers: Patrick Creadon, Christine O’Malley, Addison Wiggin, and Kate Incontrera

** Released on DVD in 2009

** Run time: 81 minutes

 

The film-makers identify four key areas where they see a huge and a growing problem. The first three are in the world of economics, while the fourth is in the world of politics:

 

# 1. A budget deficit

# 2. A savings deficit

# 3. A trade deficit

# 4. A lack of leadership

 

Several persons are interviewed in this film. Archive footage is also used from time to time. I will not mention all names, because the complete list is too long. Here are some of the names (listed in alphabetical order):

 

** Robert L. Bixby (born 1945) – executive director of the Concord Coalition

** Warren E. Buffett (born 1930) – a businessman

** Alan Greenspan (born 1926) – chairman of the Fed (the Federal Reserve) 1987-2006

** Paul H. O’Neill (1935-2020) – a businessman – secretary of the treasury 2001-2002

** David Walker (born 1951) – US Comptroller General (director of the GAO) 1998-2008

 

The participants advocate a responsible economic policy. They warn against profligate spending. They warn politicians against promising and introducing tax cuts just to be popular with voters.

 

This film comes with a strong warning about economic problems. This warning was fully justified by the economic crash which happened at the end of 2008; only a few months after the film was released.

 

In this film, we are told that the US national debt was 8.7 trillion dollars in 2008. What has happened with this figure since then? 

 

The answer:

 

It has increased.

 

** In 2018, the US national debt was 15.6 trillion dollars; almost two times what it was in 2008.

** At the end of 2022, the national debt was more than 31.4 trillion dollars.

 

Obviously, the politicians ignored the warnings issued in this film.

 

What do reviewers say about this film?

 

Here are the results of three review aggregators:

 

** 65 per cent = Meta (the audience)

** 70 per cent = Meta (the critics)

** 75 per cent = IMDb

** 86 per cent = Rotten Tomatoes (the audience)

** 88 per cent = Rotten Tomatoes (the critics)

 

On Amazon there are at the moment more than 130 ratings of this product, more than 120 with reviews.

 

The average rating is 4.2 stars which corresponds to a rating of 84 percent.

 

As you can see, the ratings are quite good. When you look at Meta and Rotten Tomatoes, you can see that there is a small gap between the general audience and the professional critics. The critics are more positive than the audience. But both groups are positive.

 

This is surprising. We might expect a large difference between the two scores, because the audience might find a film about economics boring. It seems this is not the case here.

 

However, not all reviews are positive. There are some critical voices as well. Some of them claim the people interviewed in this film just want to make sure that ordinary people pay taxes, while big corporations do not, so big corporations can remain rich.

 

I do not think this claim is true. A responsible economic policy must apply to all members of society, whether they are rich or not. And I think this is the message of the film.

 

I understand the numerous positive reviews and I agree with most of them.

 

I want to go all the way to the top with this product. I think it deserves a rating of five stars (100 percent).

 

PS # 1. A companion book was published in 2008:

I.O.U.S.A. One Nation. Under Stress. In Debt

by Addison Wiggin and Kate Incontrera

With a foreword by David Walker

 

PS # 2. The GAO was established in 1921. At first, the three letters stood for General Accounting Office. In 2004 the name was changed to Government Accountability Office. The change was made to better reflect the mission of the office. But the acronym remains the same.

 

The GAO is known as the Congressional Watchdog and the Taxpayer’s Friend.

 

PS # 3. The US Comptroller General is the director of the GAO. He or she is nominated for a term of 15 years by the president and confirmed by the Senate.

 

The Comptroller General may not be removed by the president, but only by Congress through impeachment. No formal attempt has ever been made to remove a Comptroller General.

 

PS # 4. Paul Walker resigned his position as Comptroller General in 2008, almost six years before the end of his 15-year term.

 

He was succeeded by Gene L. Dodaro who served as the Acting Comptroller General from 2008 to 2010.

 

In 2010, Dodaro was nominated by President Obama and confirmed by the Senate. In 2023, he is is still in office.

 

PS # 5. Paul H. O’Neill was hired by President G. W. Bush in 2001. As Secretary of the Treasury, he did not always support the president’s economic policy. And he spoke out in public.

 

This did not make him popular in government. In 2002, he was asked to resign. When he did not do that, he was fired.

 

There is a book about his experience with the Bush administration:

 

The Price of Loyalty

by Ron Suskind 

(2004)

 

This book was written with full cooperation from Paul H. O’Neill.

 

PS # 6. The Gold Standard is never mentioned in this film. The US effectively abandoned this principle in 1933 (FDR) and completely gave it up in 1971 (Richard Nixon).

 

For information about this topic, see the following book: 

 

Gold: The Once and Future Money

by Nathan Lewis (2007) 

With a foreword by Addison Wiggin

 

PS # 7. For background information about the economic crisis, see the following book: 

 

Empire of Debt: The Rise of an Epic Financial Crisis

by Will Bonner and Addison Wiggin 

(2005)

 

*****

I.O.U.S.A.

One Nation. Under Stress. In Debt

by Addison Wiggin and Kate Incontrera

(2008)

This is the companion book

*****