For years now, Americans have called for a balanced budget, debt reduction, and fiscal sanity. Yet the federal government continues to spend beyond its income, driving the level of federal debt up and public confidence down. Why is that? Why have the monsters of public financepork-barrel spending, entitlements, and the deficitremained unchecked for so long? What effects have they had on our economy and our politics? What, if anything, can be done to tame them?This concise, well-written primer of American political economy offers answers to these questions and more, all the while covering a...