Judy Shelton is an economist who has written 15 pieces for the Wall Street Journal over the past two years. She is the author of several books including Money Meltdown in 1994 and The Coming Soviet Crash in 1989. In addition, she is on the board of the National Endowment for Democracy, which makes grants to countries to promote democracy.

Six months before the Berlin wall came down in 1989, Judy Shelton appeared on "Booknotes" to talk about the economic problems of the Soviet Union. In this interview, she returns to look at the situation 20 years later as well as discuss the economic situation in the United States. Video clips of that program were shown, as well as of another speech given that year.