272 pages Basic Books  (New York) Publication Date: February 1986 Paperback ISBN: 0465026826 Hardcover ISBN: 0465026818

The $700 billion global debt crisis now facing us is unique, it is serious, and it will not go away. This is the first sobering conclusion of this important book, the first definitive account of how the current crisis started, and who is responsible. The author points out that more faults are likely: Much of the interest on outstanding loans cannot be repaid and the political climate is such that much of the principal balance will not be repaid. Today, when the six largest U.S. banks alone have loans to the five largest Latin borrowers that amount to nearly twice their net assets, the prospect of such default is frightening, can no longer be ignored by Americans.

John H. Makin is a resident scholar at AEI.