Fiscal Fitness

Typically in this blog my focus leans toward physical fitness. Today I’m going to change things up a little bit and encourage you to think about your fiscal fitness.

Phil and I watched two movies recently that are thought-provoking, and well worth your time.

Maxed Out focuses on the problems of personal consumer debt, and its crushing burden.

The second film, I.O.U.S.A., shines a spotlight on the United States' national debt. It is exceptionally well done, explaining the history of the national debt, how we got to this point, and what it will take to extricate the country from this mess. More important, it describes what will happen if we don’t take action now.

I strongly urge you to at least take 30 minutes and watch the abbreviated version of I.O.U.S.A. available on the movie’s website.

Maxed Out (2005) (run time 86 minutes) [We watched it July 17]

Maxed Out takes viewers on a journey deep inside the American style of debt, where things seem fine as long as the minimum monthly payment arrives on time. With coverage that spans from small American towns all the way to the White House, the film shows how the modern financial industry really works, explains the true definition of "preferred customer" and tells us why the poor are getting poorer while the rich keep getting richer. Maxed Out paints a picture of a national nightmare which is all too real for far too many Americans.

The film's many interviewees include Harvard University financial analyst Elizabeth Warren (who explains the lucrativeness of high-interest mortgage banking) and born-again Christian radio host Dave Ramsay, who offers difficult on-air advice to the fiscally burdened by drawing on his own experiences as a debtor.

I.O.U.S.A. (2009) (run time 80 minutes) [We watched it September 22, 2009]

Throughout history, the American government has found it nearly impossible to spend only what has been raised through taxes.

The film follows former U.S. Comptroller General David Walker as he crisscrosses the country explaining America's unsustainable fiscal policies to its citizens.

If you are looking for a better understanding about our national economic crisis, you won't find a more sobering nonpartisan look at it than in the PBS documentary, "I.O.U.S.A."