Hamilton's Blessing: The Extraordinary Life and Times of Our National Debt.

• Author: Tierney, Cornelius E.

Reviewed by GFOA member Cornelius E. Tierney, CPA, retired national director of Ernst & Young's public sector practice, currently professor of accountancy at The George Washington University, Washington, D.C.

I am partial to small books: despite size, most have a message. To those of the same mind, I recommend adding John Steele Gordon's book Hamilton's Blessing to their list. It is a serious effort to explain evolving views on the country's national debt that is worthy of the time devoted to its reading. Dealing with what some might say is a great idea gone awry, it is an excellent, readable, and eminently understandable chronology of what happened, what went wrong and, in the author's view, why with respect to our national debt.

The "blessing," as related by the author, initially appeared in a letter by Alexander Hamilton, the country's first Secretary of the Treasury, to Robert Morris, reportedly the country's financier of the Revolution: "A national debt, if it is not excessive, will be to us a national blessing." For the 200 years since, collectively as a nation, we seem to have ignored the qualifier about excessiveness and reveled in the blessing. As is well documented in this book, our public attitude toward the national debt is tied to a relatively recent and rather disturbing phenomenon: our societal propensity to "charge it," to enjoy benefits today and pay tomorrow - that is, if we cannot refinance or roll over the charges for a few more years. On a national level, this attitude burdens children and grandchildren yet unborn; this is a national tragedy.

Interesting, refreshing, and informative might best describe the author's reporting of the maturity, intelligence, and responsibility with which our ancestors - elected officials, appointed executives, benefiting private-sector executives, and even government contractors - viewed, borrowed, used, and then repaid the national debt. By the author's count, in more than 200 years there were seven periods when the national debt rather steadily increased, six when it declined, and three when it was stable. Of the seven periods of increase, six involved wars or serious depressions and were good reasons to borrow. Each of these problem times of borrowing was followed by determined and successful efforts to adjust taxes, curb expenditures, or do a bit of both to pare the debt. The message about recent national attitudes and responsibilities about the national debt, in the author's data, is...