Why You Should Give a Damn About Economics: The US Debt Crisis and Your Future

By Leslie A. Rubin

A no-nonsense guide to America’s debt crisis, why it matters to everyone, and what we can do to fix it.

America is facing a fiscal crisis. The accumulating national debt now reaches into the tens of trillions—and shows no end in sight. Meanwhile, our leaders in Washington have done little to mitigate this threat. In Why You Should Give a Damn About Economics, business executive and former CPA Leslie A. Rubin explains why this pressing issue matters to every American.

In simple, straightforward language, Rubin explains how national economics affects our daily lives. He aptly outlines the basics of US economic policy, the crisis we face today—and both the pitfalls and benefits of proposed solutions. A concise but comprehensive handbook, Why You Should Give a Damn About Economics provides the tools we need to disarm the debt bomb before it’s too late.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Open Road Integrated Media
• Release date: May 16, 2024
• ISBN: 9781612546605

Book preview

INTRODUCTION

When New York congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez warned that the world would end in twelve years due to climate change, she fell short of noting the US national debt as another contributing factor. The federal government owes $121,600,000,000,000.¹ That’s eleven zeros trailing off that six, making it in the trillions. And of the $121.6 trillion, $32 trillion is interest-bearing debt, and $76 trillion is unfunded liabilities of the federal government.² Those numbers are from the last financial report available from the government on September 30, 2022, and it’s increased since then.³

Your share of it is $368,000 . . . and climbing.

The $121.6 trillion debt on the collective government credit card is beyond comprehension, and the trends today will make it even worse in the future. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO), the government agency that makes nonpartisan estimations, projects large and growing deficits indefinitely based on current policy. And that’s before some of the new, unpaid-for programs being proposed today. By 2033, the CBO projects the interest-bearing debt to grow by $19.5 trillion.⁴ That will bring our interest-bearing part of the debt to over $50 trillion.⁵

The colossal debt owed by the federal government might eventually lead to the economy collapsing and mass starvation. Let that sink in. Economic instability has just as much of an impact on the food on your table as climate change. And not a lot of people are blowing their horns about economics like they are the environment.

I am not an economist; I am a businessman. I have been a real estate developer since the mid-1970s and was a CPA/controller for ten years before that. I’ve had success and failure multiple times. But after each failure, I managed to survive and, eventually, land on my feet and pay off all my debts. So why did I write a book on economics, public policy, and the problems we face?

I have watched our economic direction for years, but now I see a major problem coming as a result of our enormous debt. Even though I have only a fundamental education in economics from college, after a few years working in business, I realized that many folks never had, or nowadays get, a chance to learn about economics. So I learned more about it and got involved in economic education on a local basis. I became a founding member of the Pinellas Economic Development Corporation, served as the Chairman of the Pinellas Suncoast Chamber of Commerce, Founder of the Pinellas Economic Education Council, and was a key part of the team that made Enterprise Village, among many others—all to help the public learn about economics and know the risks and rewards that it entails.

To put it simply, I’m a deeply concerned citizen who cares about what is happening in our country. That’s why I got involved in the beginning. That same reason is why I wrote this book.

My Purpose

Educate and inform—that’s all I want to do. This book is written for those Main Street citizens, not students of economics, not teachers of it, and not those immersed in these subjects day in and day out. This book is for you—the voting public. It is meant to educate, not confound. Most people glaze over when they hear the term economics and walk away scratching their head saying, What was that? This book simplifies and teaches economics in a clear, logical way that you can understand and use in the real world.

I’m not here to promote any cause or political side. I do my best to keep things nonpartisan. Not Republican or Democrat. Not left or right. My only goal is to educate and alert people to the difficulties we face as well as which policies might best help solve these problems. I won’t tell you how to vote, but I’ll arm you with the facts so you can vote your conscience. A better-informed voting public allows you to vote intelligently for those who propose policies you favor and make good economic sense. So let’s start our walk down the road of economics: what it is, how it works, and why you should care about any of this.

Why Should You Give a Damn?

The very future of our country, for you, your kids, and your grandkids, depends on the success of our economy. This will be determined by policies coming from our elected representatives, and it’s the policies our public officials present that will propel our country toward, or away from, prosperity. Almost all policy proposals are made with good intentions and sound good on the surface. Unintended consequences frequently come back to bite us where the sun don’t shine, but it is outcomes that matter, not intentions.

These officials will be elected by you. You and your vote will determine the future of this country: how well we live or what serious economic problems could bring us down. There are always many issues facing every country because nothing is ever perfect, but this is especially true for the United States today. We face some very daunting