While America Aged : How Pension Debts Ruined General Motors, Stopped the NYC Subways, Bankrupted San Diego, and Loom as the Next Financial Crisis

by Lowenstein, Roger (Author)

• ISBN13: 9780143115380
• ISBN10: 0143115383
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2009-04-28
• Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics)

Summary

The retirement crisis facing America—and the road map for a way out—from The New York Timesbestselling author of Origins of the Crash In the last several decades, corporations and local governments made ruinous pension and healthcare promises to American workers. With these now coming due, they threaten to destroy twenty-first- century America’s hopes for a comfortable retirement. With his trademark narrative panache, bestselling author Roger Lowenstein analyzes three fascinating case studies—General Motors, the New York City subway system, and the city of San Diego—each an object lesson and a compelling historical saga that illuminates how the pension crisis developed. Cumulative retirement deficits are approaching $1 trillion, and Lowenstein warns that these are only the first. Retirement pensions will continue to be a critical issue as the country ages, and While America Aged is the urgent call to action and prescription for reform.

Author Biography

Roger Lowenstein, the bestselling author of Buffett, When Genius Failed, and Origins of the Crash, was a reporter and columnist for The Wall Street Journal for more than a decade.