The richest man in the world wants to talk to you about our $53-trillion debt and the $175,000 you and every American citizen would need to pay to lift the U.S. out of its financial hole.
Warren Buffett, worth an estimated $62 billion, is one of the notable financial leaders and policy experts answering the public’s questions Thursday during a townhall meeting beamed live from Nebraska to 400 theaters nationwide — including three in Maryland.
Immediately before the Q&A session, audiences will see “I.O.U.S.A.,” co-written and executive produced by Addison Wiggin, editor of The Daily Reckoning newsletter published by the Mt. Vernon-based Agora Inc. The documentary, based on Wiggin and Bill Bonner’s New York Times best-seller “Empire of Debt,” follows David Walker, former head of the U.S. Government Accountability Office, around the country on the Concord Coalition’s Fiscal Wake Up tour.
In the film, Walker describes how our country’s lackluster leadership, alarming national deficit, diminished savings and reliance on foreign funds and products have “increased our risk of being held hostage by foreign leaders.” The documentary uses graphics, archival footage and candid interviews to explain how the country spent its way to bankruptcy.
“The film explains issues in a way that is very dramatic, without diminishing and oversimplifying them,” said Jed Dietz, Founder of the Maryland Film Festival. During screenings of “I.O.U.S.A.” at the Festival in May, Dietz witnessed sold-out crowds overfill the Charles Theatre and had to turn away hundreds.
Based on reactions from Sundance and Maryland Film Festival audiences, Wiggin and filmmakers refined “I.O.U.S.A.,” enhancing graphics, clarifying the actions viewers can take after leaving the theater and adding interviews with Alan Greenspan and other influential figures.
“People call this [film] doom and gloom because of the scary numbers and statistics, but if that we’re true, we wouldn’t have done [the film,]” Wiggin said. “Everyone who took part in the film believes [the economic situation] is a solvable problem. One of my favorite quotes [from “I.O.U.S.A.] is from Bob Bixby who says ‘We created it. We can fix it.’ ”
IF YOU GO
I.O.U.S.A.
- When: 8 p.m. Thursday
- Where: Bel Air Cinema 14, Abingdon
- Snowden Square, Columbia
- AMC Owings Mills 17, Owings Mills
- Cost: $11.50 to $20 depending upon location
