''Balance: The Economics of Great Powers from Ancient Rome to Modern America'', known colloquially as ''Balance'' is a non-fiction economic history text written by former US intelligence officer and economist Captain Tim Kane and economist

Glenn Hubbard Glenn Hubbard may refer to: *Glenn Hubbard (baseball) (born 1957), American baseball player *Glenn Hubbard (economist) (born 1958), American academic specializing in tax policy and health care See also *Hubbard (surname) Hubbard is an English sur ...

. While criticized for its brevity across a wide range of historical matters, it has become an often cited text in the debate around

American Isolationism United States non-interventionism primarily refers to the foreign policy that was eventually applied by the United States between the late 18th century and the first half of the 20th century whereby it sought to avoid alliances with other nations ...

and

fiscal policy In economics and political science, fiscal policy is the use of government revenue collection (taxes or tax cuts) and expenditure to influence a country's economy. The use of government revenue expenditures to influence macroeconomic variables ...

Summary

The text's principal concern is why economic imbalances have historically caused civil collapse, and asks whether The United States could experience a similar decline. The book summarizes the fall of a range of civilizations, including the Ming Dynasty, Ottoman Turkey and Imperial Spain, and reflects on the resulting patterns within their socioeconomic, military and political policies. From this, Kane and Hubbard introduce a new measure of economic power, based around fiscal balance, national debt and social spending. The text is particularly critical of heavy regulation on internal employment, markets and trade, highlighting the limits of the Japanese model of growth, including an ageing population. The book concludes with a comparison of the twenty-first century United States to former fallen civilizations, and the challenges Americans face in order to address what Kane and Hubbard regard as "dysfunctional fiscal imbalance".

Reception

The book received mixed to positive reviews during the initial release, with ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' describing the book's analysis of imperial history as "one-dimensional" but praising the book's overall focus on domestic issues as "dead-on". ''

The Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and published digitally that focuses on business and economic current affairs. Based in London, England, the paper is owned by a Japanese holding company, Nikk ...

'' described the book as "a readable, data-rich history of the fall of great powers through the eyes of two fiscally troubled US conservatives in 2013." The book has found success in political debate circles, and is often cited within other socioeconomic texts and analysis.

References

{{Reflist Economic history 2013 non-fiction books Simon & Schuster books