Boom2Bust.com

Friday Freebie: I.O.U.S.A. Movie

I’ve been wanting to see the movie I.O.U.S.A. for some time now. I missed the film when it hit the local theaters, so I figured I’d just rent it when it came out on DVD. Well, several months have passed, and there’s still a “short wait” for the movie in my Blockbuster queue.

But that’s okay, because a 30-minute “byte-sized” edition is now available, for free, on the home page of the official I.O.U.S.A. website:

http://www.iousathemovie.com/

In case you’re not familiar with I.O.U.S.A., from the website:

Wake up, America! We’re on the brink of a financial meltdown. I.O.U.S.A. boldly examines the rapidly growing national debt and its consequences for the United States and its citizens. Burdened with an ever-expanding government and military, increased international competition, overextended entitlement programs, and debts to foreign countries that are becoming impossible to honor, America must mend its spendthrift ways or face an economic disaster of epic proportions.

Throughout history, the American government has found it nearly impossible to spend only what has been raised through taxes. Wielding candid interviews with both average American taxpayers and government officials, Sundance veteran Patrick Creadon (Wordplay) helps demystify the nation’s financial practices and policies. The film follows former U.S. Comptroller General David Walker as he crisscrosses the country explaining America’s unsustainable fiscal policies to its citizens.

With surgical precision, Creadon interweaves archival footage and economic data to paint a vivid and alarming profile of America’s current economic situation. The ultimate power of I.O.U.S.A. is that the film moves beyond doomsday rhetoric to proffer potential financial scenarios and propose solutions about how we can recreate a fiscally sound nation for future generations.

Creadon uses candid interviews and his featured subjects include Warren Buffett, Alan Greenspan, Paul O’Neill, Robert Rubin, and Paul Volcker, along with the Peter G. Peterson Foundation’s own David Walker and Bob Bixby of the Concord Coalition, a Foundation grantee.

Pointedly topical and consummately nonpartisan, I.O.U.S.A. drives home the message that the only time for America’s financial future is now.

Well, at least now I have something to hold me over until I can get my hands on the “full-sized” version.

Enjoy!