A new book by Michael Lewis (author of great books such as Moneyball and The Blind Side) explores the West’s developing sovereign debt crisis. The book is called Boomerang: Travels in the New Third World, and it is the most fantastic book I’ve read in recent memory.

Lewis explores the developing debt crisis in three countries: Iceland, Greece, and Ireland. He also takes a look at Germany and their unique position in the European crisis. To bring the point home to Americans he looks at debt issues in the state government of California and a city that declared bankruptcy and has recently emerged from the process, Vallejo, California. What Lewis found through his research and interviews with officials, is each of these governments have become indebted to such an extent that their balance sheets look a lot like those found in third world economies. Continue reading