"A boldly written and ambitiously researched account of America’s flawed budgeting process that is well worth reading."—Journal of American History
"Morgan’s book is truly a story foretold. . . . This book is a clear-headed exposition of the political fix in which America’s polarized political class has put the country."—Congress and the Presidency
"The deficit is once again at the center of the national political debate. . . . Little wonder responsible citizens and scholars alike despair of the prospect of getting beyond stylized, predictable claims. Luckily, an antidote is at hand. [This book] will not bring Democratic liberals together with their Tea Party counterparts, but it does offer the balanced, insightful historical perspective the debate needs. . . . [It] grounds pithy and nicely crafted case studies of each president from Jimmy Carter to George W. Bush in a historical narrative that pinpoints significant changes in politics, budgets, and institutions. . . . The Age of Deficits tells how we got here, recounting each president's aims and accomplishments through the lens of the budgetary process. Separate chapters are well researched and deftly-written, and although the outlines of the story are familiar, Morgan’s thoroughness at canvassing the archives and contemporary commentary reveals details that even experts will appreciate. Exemplary political history, the book is both illuminating and a pleasure to read."—Presidential Studies Quarterly
"This timely and ambitious book undermines long-held assumptions that the President (any President) is or can be the responsible steward of the nation’s finances. Balancing historic scope with political depth, The Age of Deficits tackles the entire budgeting history of the United States while delving into the complex subtopics that animate budget dramas year-to-year and decade-to-decade: elections, parties, institutional developments, monetary and fiscal policy, world economic events, an the mysterious bond market. . . . [The book is] a lively and engaging discussion of the limits of representative democracy."—American Review of Politics
“Exhaustively researched, elegantly written, and balanced, Morgan’s remarkable study is a major scholarly contribution to our understanding of the presidency and of federal budget policy.”—Dennis Ippolito, author of Why Budgets Matter: Budget Policy and American Politics
“An important and impressive analysis of budgetary and fiscal politics since the Carter presidency that will stand for some time to come.”—James D. Savage, author of Balanced Budgets and American Politics
“A strikingly original and illuminating work that should be read by everyone seeking to understand how modern American politics and public policy work. This is history at its most relevant best.”—Robert M. Collins, author of More: The Politics of Economic Growth in Postwar America