Writings

Books


On Borrowed Time: How the Growth in Entitlement Spending Threatens America's Future, with Neil Howe (1988)

Facing Up: How to Rescue the Economy from Crushing Debt and Restore the American Dream (1993)

Will America Grow Up Before it Grows Old: How the Coming Social Security Crisis Threatens You, Your Family and Your Country (1996)

Gray Dawn: How the Coming Age Wave Will Transform America—and the World (2000)

Running on Empty: How the Democratic and Republican Parties Are Bankrupting Our Future and What Americans Can Do About It (2005)

The Education of an American Dreamer: How a Son of Greek Immigrants Learned His Way from a Nebraska Diner to Washington, Wall Street, and Beyond (2009)

Steering Clear: How to Avoid a Debt Crisis and Secure Our Economic Future (2015)


Select Articles & Op-Eds


Ignoring the Debt Problem, New York Times, October 21, 2016

America Can't Afford Greek Complacency, USA Today, July 8, 2015

A Fiscal Deal or Fiscal Crisis, Politico, April 1, 2013

How to Handle Our Long-term Debt, Politico, June 27, 2012

Real Debt Solution Must 'Go Long', Politico, November 11, 2011

A New Chance to Get Budget Right, Politico, August 7, 2011

A Grand Fiscal Bargain, The Washington Post, July 8, 2011

Pete Peterson: Giving Away a Fortune to Keep the American Dream Alive,
U.S. News & World Report, October 15, 2010

My Turn: Pete Peterson on Giving Away $1 Billion, Newsweek, May 29, 2009

You Can’t Take It With You, Newsweek, March 29, 2008

No Free Lunch, The National Interest, Jul-August 2007 Issue

A New Vision for Business Leaders, Newsweek, June 12, 2005

Where Are the Business Patriots?, The Washington Post, July 18, 2004

10 Partisan Myths, Newsweek, July 11, 2004

Facing Up to the Global Age Wave, Boston Globe, October 5, 2003

The Way We Live Now: Deficits and Dysfunction, Newsweek, June 8, 2003

No New Tax Cuts, With Bob Kerrey, Sam Nunn, Robert E. Rubin, Warren B. Rudman and Paul A. Volcker, The New York Times, April 9, 2003

The Global Impact of a "Gray Dawn", The Heritage Foundation, February 26, 2002

Our Graying Budget Priorities, The New York Times, September 18, 2000

Expert Views: Fiscal Commission

We asked experts with diverse views from across the political spectrum to share their perspectives.

National Debt Clock

See the latest numbers and learn more about the causes of our high and rising debt.