Deficits, Debt, and American Politics : Routledge : 9781032497549 : 1032497548 : 31 May 2023 : For most of the nation's history, periods of growing indebtedness in the United States?a product of wars and economic crises?were followed by reductions in the debt-to-GDP ratio. But why have the last several decades failed to follow this pattern, leaving the national debt at its highest level since World War II? In this groundbreaking new book, author Marc Allen Eisner, who has devoted most of his scholarly career to studying the evolution of the US political economy, explores the significant changes in the fiscal conditions of the United States during the postwar period, embedding the discussion in a broader historical context. He demonstrates that the national debt is in part a product of reduced revenues and the growing costs of the largest entitlement programs, but it also reflects a long series of shocks, including two wars, the financial crisis and Great Recession, and the COVID-19 pan