In The Cul-De-Sac Syndrome – Turning Around The Unsustainable American Dream,  John Wasik provides a surgical strike into the heart of the socio-economic and social-structural challenges currently facing the U.S.

He begins with a characterization of the false economics that got us into this mess, a scholarly historical overview of the origins of suburbia in the U.S. and how debt and finance played a fundamental a role in the current conundrum.

As Wasik states, “The age of froth is long over. It’s a time for reckoning and renewal.” (p.174). This book focuses on re-imagining, re-engineering and rebuilding our communities…and a sustainable way of life for America.

Wasik spears the illusions and assumptions that fueled the unsustainable rise in residential real estate prices. He moves on to characterize how we must “clean up and move on.”

This is not one of those books that simply summarizes and criticizes a crisis in hindsight. It provides  terribly important insights into the correction required to stabilize and grow this nation.

Listen to Wasik. After devouring this work, I’m convinced he is a thinker legitimately worth paying attention to.

One of my favorites for 2009.