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I cannot recommend the book Boomerang by Michael Lewis enough. He examines what several countries (Greece, Ireland, Iceland, Germany, the United States) did bet
by jonesb6 11y ago
I cannot recommend the book Boomerang by Michael Lewis enough. He examines what several countries (Greece, Ireland, Iceland, Germany, the United States) did between 2000-2012 when they were allowed to barrow vast sums of money with little oversight. He's a great narrator and it's an overall insightful book.
Towards the end of the book he examines what a number of American cities did when they were allowed to barrow vast sums of money with little oversight. Thumming through it now he covers Vallejo and San Jose. TLDR would be they bankrupted themselves with pensions and tax cuts.
Oh and it's a light read too. And it has an Arnold Schwarzenegger interview.
- throwaway_xx9 11y agoThe story goes much deeper than that. The public sector unions across California circulated a letter in each municipality that they would only support candidates willing to approve 8% guaranteed annual pension returns. And they got it. As a result, California cities are all bankrupt today. FYI: San Jose is bad, but ironically wealthy Palo Alto has one of the worst budgets.