What would happen if the world’s greatest economic powerhouse went bankrupt? Through real-world examples from home and abroad, Mitchell and Rubin take us on a crash course in economics, history, fiscal reality, and (most importantly) tried-and-true solutions. How do we fix Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid? What kind of tax burden can the economy bear and still thrive? And what can I do about it? These questions should be on the mind of every American—and they are the beating heart of this book.
Praise for The Greatest Ponzi Scheme on Earth
“Packed with evidence about the benefits of spending restraint and pro-growth tax policy.”
— LARRY KUDLOW
Former Director of the National Economic Council under President Donald Trump
“Great real-world examples of how nations can prosper…but also tragic examples of how tax-and-spend policies lead to economic decline.”
— ART LAFFER,
Former member of President Ronald Reagan's
Economic Policy Advisory Board, Creator of the Laffer Curve
“Wake up, America! As Rubin and Mitchell demonstrate, bad fiscal policy is stymying economic growth and putting us perilously close to economic calamity. Fortunately, they show how we can get out ofthis mess!”
— JIM MILLER
Former Director of the Office of Management and Budget under President Ronald Reagan
“The authors not only lucidly lay out the increasingly critical state of Washington’s finances, but they also offer up exciting, pro-growth, politically appealing policies to crush this crisis. We ignore this everso-timely book at our peril.”
— STEVE FORBES
Editor-in-Chief of Forbes magazine
“The Greatest Ponzi Scheme on Earth is the best single book on the coming fiscal disaster yet written. The authors are driven by data rather than emotion. They detail how the US and most other major countries have ended up on an unsustainable spending binge. But they also give us a ray of hope by presenting corrective actions that may be politically
doable before we go over the cliff.”
— RICHARD RAHN
Former Chief Economist of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce
“Everyone knows that the mountain of debt spending in Washington will collapse as any Ponzi scheme always does. When it does, the collapse will cause financial havoc, and everyone will get flattened. When Bernie Madoff ran his scheme, we put him in jail and threw away the key. After reading this book you will think that is what we should do with the spendaholics in Congress.”
— STEPHEN MOORE
Heritage Foundation economist
“Both parties are spending like there’s no tomorrow. Debts and deficits have continued to grow out of control no matter who is in charge. There’s still time, but if the fiscal problems aren’t fixed soon, we’ll face a fiscal bomb that will destroy the economy and our country for future generations. Rubin and Mitchell explain the problems and solutions in a way that anyone can understand. Every voter should read this book and then send to their representatives to fix this mess now.”
— CHRIS BALL
Ph.D., Istvan Szechenyi Chair in International Economics and Director of the Central European Institute, Quinnipiac University
About the Authors
Daniel J. Mitchell
Daniel J. Mitchell is president of the Center for Freedom and Prosperity, a pro-market public policy organization he founded in 2000. His major research interests include tax reform, international tax competition, the economic burden of government spending, and other fiscal policy issues. Having also worked at the Heritage Foundation and Cato Institute, he has decades of experience authoring papers, writing editorials, working with the public policy community, and presenting the free-market viewpoint to newspaper, television, and radio media. Dan has spoken to a wide variety of groups in dozens of cities and more than fifty foreign countries. He also served on the editorial board of the Cayman Financial Review, and holds a Ph.D. in economics from George Mason University.
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Les A. Rubin
Leslie A. Rubin is a professional accountant, entrepreneur, philanthropist, and real estate developer. He has studied economics for over forty years and been heavily involved with economic education locally, working with schools, writing articles, and commissioning sculptures on economic themes for his real estate developments, which allowed him to gain a clear understanding of what makes economic systems work and the power of incentives. Rubin’s passion for economics and economic education inspired him to create Main Street Economics Inc., a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that provides the average person on “Main Street” the opportunity to learn about economic systems without going back to school.
Les graduated from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in accounting and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa and Beta Gamma Sigma honorary societies. For ten years he was a practicing CPA/controller and has been the owner and president of his own commercial real estate development company, Rubin Development Corporation, for almost fifty years.
Is the United States government running a Ponzi scheme?
We have a massive federal debt because there is too much spending in Washington, well above our income. Rather than try to solve our fiscal problems, however, politicians think the answer is to borrow more money. And we have no means to repay the debt other than to borrow more money. Sounds like a Ponzi scheme to us.
Learn economics, get mad, and vote for fiscal responsibility. If you’re looking for a place to start, look no further. The important thing is that you start now. Your kids and grandkids depend on it.
In The Greatest Ponzi Scheme on Earth, economist Dan Mitchell and entrepreneur Les Rubin make the case that we, the American public, are being swindled by a federal government whose never-ending, out-of-control cycle of wasteful spending is putting our economic stability in grave peril. For the sake of our kids and grandkids, and the future of our country, it is time for us to pull in the reins and end the spending.