Fuzzy Math

The Essential Guide to the Bush Tax Plan

By: Paul Krugman

Narrated by: Sam Freed

Wielding his widely recognized powers of explanation, Paul Krugman lays bare the hidden facts behind the $2 trillion tax cut.

With huge budget surpluses just ahead, the question of whether to cut taxes has shifted to when? and by how much? With Fuzzy Math, Paul Krugman dissects the Bush tax proposal and shows us who wins, who loses, and how quickly the tax cuts will consume the surplus. Always the equal-opportunity critic when it comes to faulty economics, Krugman also tucks into the Democratic alternatives to the Bush plan.

This little audiobook packs a big wallop. Together with major media appearances, it puts Krugman's wisdom and steely-eyed analysis firmly at the center of the debate about how to spend upwards of $2 trillion. It may very well change the course of history.Executive Producer: Jacob Bronstein
Producer: John McElroy
Original jacket design by Debra Morton Hoyt
Original jacket photograph by Don Bonsey/Stone
Author photograph by Bachrach
Published in hardcover by W.W. Norton & Company
©2001 Paul Krugman
(P)2001 Random House, Inc.

Somewhat out of date

This is an important book for everyone concerned about leaving the world in better shape than they found it.

This is a great book for understanding the economic underpinnings, or lack thereof, of the Bush Tax plan. It asks the very serious question, is there enough money to have a tax cut and fully fund Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. The Bush administration says there is, but the numbers suggest otherwise.

The problem is that this book was written before the tax cut passed and more significantly before the September 11th terrorist attacks. To that end, it is a wonderful reminder of how different the world was then. Unfortunately, it also weakens the very strong message that the tax cut that did pass was and is very dangerous economic policy.

Krugman has since done a follow-on book called The Great Unravelling that expands on the ideas of this book within the context of a post 9/11 world. Hopefully that will be available on Audible soon too, if not, listen to this and then go buy that book.