Americans should find fulfillment outside of economics because the national debt is a crisis that can’t be fixed, said Philip Klein, editor of National Review Online.
Klein spoke on Tuesday afternoon to students about the national debt and its impact on Generation Z at a lecture hosted by the Dow Journalism Program.
He compared the increasing debt to the median income for college-aged adults.
“We’re in a situation where the average person graduating college and earning income is inheriting a debt two times their income on average,” Klein said. “Somebody who graduated college back in the ’70s did not have to worry about facing anywhere near as much debt as you guys have.”
Klein explained the history of debt in the United States, describing how it is created and how it has been resolved in the past. He offered solutions to the current crisis.
“You could raise taxes, you could cut spending dramatically, or some combination of the two,” Klein said. “But this creates a trap where, on the one hand, you want to raise taxes or cut spending, but doing that hurts the economy which could make the debt even worse.”
Klein proposed reforming Social Security and Medicare systems, but, after the COVID-19 pandemic, he said it’s becoming more difficult to make those sorts of changes. In addition, younger generations simply aren’t worried about the debt, he said.
“We have older voters that are a reliable, active voting bloc, and they really care about Social Security and Medicare,” Klein said. “But younger voters aren’t really focused on retirement. They have other things that they care about.”
Senior Andrew Davidson said he appreciated Klein’s thorough knowledge of the subject.
“I liked Klein’s combination of pessimistic predictions and calm presentation,” Davidson said. “He explained exactly how serious our national debt and entitlement crises are without sounding hysterical.”
Klein told students to continue spreading awareness about the debt crisis.
“Confront the human nature issue and figure out a way to put this situation in the present moment for people,” Klein said. “Show people how the debt affects them today.”
Graduate student Christina Grattan said she appreciated the timeliness of Klein’s lecture.
“He mentioned that many Republicans have turned their concerns away from the national debt to the war on wokeness,” Grattan said. “While drag queen story hour and the ongoing cultural degeneration are harmful to our generation’s youth, I think we need to focus on the financial side as well.”
At the end of his lecture, Klein admitted his pessimism because he didn’t believe the debt would ever get resolved.
“I’m resigned to eating cat food in my old age,” Klein joked.
