The critically acclaimed author of American Theocracy delivers a thought-provoking look at the state of our economy.

Two years ago, Kevin Phillips warned us of the perilous interaction of debt, financial recklessness and the increasing cost and scarcity of oil. The current crisis in housing and mortgages—virally infecting the entire structure of credit and banking—are sadly proof of Phillips astute prescience. This national crisis will likely play directly into the 2008 election and then dominate the challenge facing our government in 2009. Phillips presents the current state of economic vulnerability within an historical and global context, and argues that we are reaching the end of a five-century continuum of over-speculative global capitalism, one that American leaders are reluctant to face.