David Walker was the Comptroller General in the GAO. He is convinced that the American nation's debt ($8.7 trillion in 2007 or 64% of Gross Domestic Production) is deadly to our future. Patrick Creadon has taken a very dry subject and, utilizing simple tools, graphics, presidential film clips, and convincing spokespeople like Warren Buffett, created a film that will hold most people's interest throughout its 85 minute duration. Using simplistic graphics to demonstrate the dire straits of the U.S. economy, the film actually does a solid job of educating about the increasing gap between U.S. productivity and expenditures.
Concerned Youth of America Protest the Debt Their Elders Are Leaving Them
Using other vehicles to demonstrate the problem facing the nation in the future due to today's ineffective leaders, a group of young people protest being saddled with the debt. Dressed in prison garb, they leaflet on the street and shout their ire to draw attention to the deficit problems. The Concord Coalition is a group that was formed to do much the same thing using different tactics - educating via film and speaking engagements throughout the United States.
The film says that the USA has only ever been debt free for a single year - in 1835. Since that time, there has been an up-and-down debt that is gradually growing larger and larger - into a debt that is costing the nation its stabililty. Living in a nation dependent on borrowed money, the CYA protesters have a right to be concerned.
Patrick Creadon's IOUSA Should Increase Concern About the Debt of the U.S.A.
Creadon's film looks at four aspects of the budget crisis:
- Savings Deficit (citizens do not save enough but tend to overspend)
- Trade Deficit (US imports many goods but exports very little)
- Leadership Deficit (US needs strong leadership to address other problems)
- Budget Deficit, or the growing difference between what is spent and what the Gross Domestic Production remains.
With ongoing wars, continuing tax cuts, and outsourcing of jobs, the U.S. economy has taken a hit during the past few decades. Creadon's film takes a chronological look at how entrenched our debt problem has become. While there is much information that cannot be covered in less than an hour and a half, there is enough to spark the interest of most people and send them searching for more. The movie site offers ideas to how to take action by contacting public officials regarding the mounting debt. If you want a quick lesson in understanding the debt, this is a good place to start.
- 85 minutes
- Movie site
- Agora Entertainment
Barbara DeGrande - Barbara DeGrande is a writer, film critic, and blogger, with years of experience as a program developer. She has a Bachelor of Arts in ...
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