I.O.U.S.A. a terrifying look at the U.S. economy

The subject of the American economy is hard to escape these days. Unfortunately it is also incredibly boring. Thankfully the schizophrenic divide between compulsively interesting and inane is familiar territory to documentarian Patrick Creadon whose 2006 piece Wordplay managed to render the (positively scintillating) world of competitive crosswords in a critically celebrated way. Creadon has set his sights on a more significant topic in I.O.U.S.A.

Based on the book Empire of Debt by popular economics writers Addison Wiggin (also co-producer and co-writer of the film) and Bill Bonner I.O.U.S.A. tackles the premise that America is marching ever-deeper into an addiction to debt. It does so in a frank fashion speaking with the world’s socioeconomic elite and targeting every U.S. government in recent memory. Its chief parlour trick is the sparkly and pristine infographic and it is a joy to watch the story shoot up and down the curves of the graphs. Through consummate application of well-thought-out metrics and expert insight the film’s four sections each corresponding to a different type of debt paint an increasingly stark picture.

That’s not to say there’s no fun in the film. Creadon keeps things interesting partly with his sense of humour. One cannot help but laugh at footage of stock-watch show Mad Money ‘s host Jim Cramer throwing a hissy fit. The film’s street-level interviews are similarly silly revealing how little the average American knows about their economic system. The genuine geeky enthusiasm of awareness advocates and centrepieces David Walker and Robert Bixby is equally amusing.

It is reassuring to see such well-kept candour reach a mainstream audience without being passed through the hands of the satirists (think Stephen Colbert) over-the-top mouthpieces who may as well be satirists (think Bill O’Reilly) or plain old rhetorically manipulative (think Michael Moore). On the other hand perhaps the reason we need shaping and finger-pointing to digest the U.S. economic situation is because it is terrifying . To its credit I.O.U.S.A. nods at this terror and does its best to steer around it.

The documentary also strikes a smart political balance. Its interviews are drawn from across the political and economic spectrum from libertarian congressman Ron Paul to serial richest-man-in-the-world Warren Buffett. By toning down the partisan rhetoric it becomes remarkably clear that recent financial failings are collective in nature having been contributed to by blue and red alike. The ideologically expansive exploration focuses on the future and this lends the film a broader accessibility.

With the relatively detached perspective of a Canadian viewer I.O.U.S.A .’ s sense of humour and intelligent analysis make it a pleasure to take in. The question remains though whether any relatively lighthearted treatment of such a gigantic confusing and ultimately important topic as the failing economy is doing the public a disservice by over-simplifying the issue.

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