Shocks, Crises, and False Alarms

CHAPTER 15 The Threat of Debt, Imagined and Real

In Lionel Shriver’s dystopian novel The Mandibles: A Family, 2029–2047, readers are immersed in a macroeconomic dystopia.¹ Crushed by its mountain of debt, the United States has defaulted, the greenback is worthless, and hyperinflation rages. The crisis stretches beyond macroeconomics and leads to a societal breakdown. Gold, guns, and a farm offer the best chance of hanging on. The Mandibles, a family of wealth, are fighting for survival.

Though this novel is entirely fictional, it speaks to real—and surprisingly common—fears about the macroeconomy.² When we discussed the novel with Shriver in 2021, she told us that her plot, which begins in 2029, could turn into reality before a potential ...