America’s Political Breakdown

After a 16-day shutdown, there’s finally a deal to raise the debt limit and reopen the government. But the can’s just been kicked down the road – another Congressional confrontation over spending cuts, entitlement programs and possible default will take place within a few months. Nonetheless, Martin Wolf, chief economics commentator of the Financial Times, believes that no matter the rhetoric and flamethrowing, the debt ceiling has to be raised because the alternatives are “simply, unimaginably horrible.” This week on Moyers & Company Wolf, who has been described as “the premier financial and economics writer in the world,” joins Bill Moyers for a discussion of the current crisis in Washington and its potentially lethal impact on the global economy. Wolf views the debt ceiling as the legislative equivalent of a nuclear bomb the US has aimed at itself, but its fallout could spread throughout the global economy. Bill also speaks with media scholar Sherry Turkle who says that the Internet and social media have changed not only what we do but also who we are. She’s a developmental psychologist who has studied the impact of computers on culture and society. A professor at MIT and director of the university’s Initiative on Technology and Self, Turkle has written several books, including her most recent, Alone Together: Why We Expect More from Technology and Less from Each Other.