Beyond the Keynesian Endpoint: Crushed by Credit and Deceived by Debt — How to Revive the Global Economy

This is the Safari online edition of the printed book.

Since the 1930s, governments have overcome recessions by borrowing and spending to temporarily replace lost consumer and business spending. What happens when they can't do it anymore? In Beyond the Keynesian Endpoint, PIMCO Executive VP Tony Crescenzi offers a sobering tour of today's unprecedented global sovereign debt crisis. Crescenzi shows how exhausted national balance sheets have stripped policymakers of their ability to bolster growth… how investors are finding it increasingly difficult to navigate debt-ridden markets... how increased spending intended to cure the financial crisis is instead worsening it. He dissects each scenario for the future, and reveals the crisis' profound long-term implications for governments, investors, and the global economy.

Introduction: Reaching the Keynesian Endpoint     1

Chapter 1          Beware the Keynesian Mirage     9

Chapter 2          The 30-Year American Consumption Binge     39

Chapter 3          How Politicians Carry Out Fiscal Illusions, Deceive the Public, and Balloon Our Debts     81

Chapter 4          The Biggest Ponzi Scheme in History: The Myth of Quantitative Easing     113

Chapter 5          How the Keynesian Endpoint Is Changing the Global Political Landscape     141

Chapter 6          Age Warfare: Gerontocracy     153

Chapter 7          The Hypnotic Power of Debt     187

Chapter 8          When is being in Debt a Good Thing?     217

Chapter 9          The Investment Implications of the Keynesian Endpoint     229

Chapter 10        Conclusion: The Transformation of a Century     271

Endnotes     275

Index     291