That Used to be Us: How America Fell Behind in the World It Invented and How We Can Come Back is a book written by New York times columnist and author Thomas Friedman and Foreign policy John Hopkins Professor Michael Mandelbaum, that was published on September 5, 2011 in the United States. It addresses the 4 major problems America faces today and their solution. These problems are: globalization, the revolution in information technology, the nation's chronic deficits, and its pattern of energy consumption.[1]