IOUSA

Obama, watch and weep. Or at least take notes. This solid doc reminds us how unsustainable the current American economy is, with an annual budget deficit of $455 billion and a national debt of more than $10 trillion. Director Patrick Creadon takes the long view, showing us how America has survived lower levels of debt before, how Clinton achieved a budget surplus (which Bush inherited) and how, if nothing changes, the country’s off-kilter finances, coupled with an ageing population, will render much social security impossible.

Creadon relies on impressive authorities, including two former secretaries of the treasury and financier Warren Buffett. Like ‘An Inconvenient Truth’, it aims to raise awareness of an impending disaster, with the Al Gore role played by David Walker, who tours the country asking people to think of America in terms of a household budget and who, until recently, was the US’s comptroller general. Virgin economists will have to concentrate, but it’s a timely wake-up call.