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Riding for a Fall

By Peter G. Peterson
September/October 2004
Summary: 

Three long-term trends are threatening to bankrupt America: the burgeoning costs of waging the war on terrorism, the U.S. economy's increasing reliance on foreign capital, and rapid aging throughout the developed world. Washington must understand that committing the United States to a broader global role while ignoring the financial costs of doing so is deeply irresponsible.

Peter G. Peterson is Chairman of the Council on Foreign Relations, the Institute for International Economics, and The Blackstone Group. He served as Secretary of Commerce in the Nixon administration. This article is adapted from "Running on Empty: How the Democratic and Republican Parties Are Bankrupting Our Future and What Americans Can Do About It," published by Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, LLC. Copyright (c) 2004 by Peter G. Peterson. All rights reserved

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