Mr Peterson’s memoir is worth reading for three reasons. First, he really has lived the American dream. His Greek father arrived in America in 1912 with only a primary education and no English. Mr Peterson grew up counting out change in the family diner in Nebraska. In 2007 he sold his stake in the Blackstone Group, his private-equity firm, for $1.85 billion. On the way, he notched up some colourful experiences as an advertising executive, as the boss of a camera manufacturer and as the chairman of Lehman Brothers, an investment bank that collapsed in September 2008.
Second, Mr Peterson is a crusader for a noble cause. He has committed the bulk of his immense fortune to nagging Americans to take their fiscal problems seriously. The huge budget deficit is only the tip of the iceberg, he warns, on posters, through his think-tank and in a surprisingly watchable documentary. The federal government has liabilities equivalent to $483,000 per American household, largely in the form of unfunded commitments to provide old people with health care and pensions. Politicians are too scared by looming elections to do anything about it, as he has seen at first hand. He recalls his shock when Bill Clinton sat down with him, agreed that social security (the public pension system) was bankrupt, and then stood up and told a crowd of voters that it was just fine….