The controversial British historian Niall Ferguson has used a cover piece in Newsweek magazine to argue that it is time Obama “hit the road”. In the piece Ferguson compares Obama’s pre-election promises with his record as President and then argues why he believes it is time for a new President.
The economic historian and Fellow of Harvard University, has spoken extensively about the need for economic reforms and the unsustainability of western debt. Ferguson writes:
“Welcome to Obama’s America: nearly half the population is not represented on a taxable return—almost exactly the same proportion that lives in a household where at least one member receives some type of government benefit,” Ferguson writes. “We are becoming the 50–50 nation—half of us paying the taxes, the other half receiving the benefits.”
Recently Ferguson raised eyebrows by claiming if young America knew what was good for them they would all join the tea-party.
Ferguson uses the lessons of economic history, to inform his political analysis of current events. He has been an advisor to politicians in America as well as in the UK. He teaches on the rise and fall of civilisations throughout history, and although he has not written America off, he understands that she is in a perilous place, and her place as the leader of the free world should not be taken for granted – America could fall, like many great nations before her.