The Best Paragraph I've Read:

If you're worried about the short-term economic outlook, I have bad news: The long-term outlook is worse.  That's what emerges from the latest long-term budget outlook released by the Congressional Budget Office last week.  It contained this sobering number: The agency expects annual economic growth to average just 1.6% over the next three decades - down by about a quarter of a point from its forecast a year ago - and just 1.5% by the 2040s.  The US hasn't had trend growth that slow since the 1930's.  Only a bit of this is because of the pandemic.  Most reflects longer-lasting forces, namely demographics and productivity.  

This paragraph comes from an editorial in the Wall Street Journal titled: "Demographics, Debt Hang Over US Growth."  The author is Greg IP.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/demographics-and-debt-hang-over-long-term-u-s-growth-11601467381

Zac and Don discuss this bleak long term economic outlook.  They talk about America's declining population - is this a problem?  If it is a problem can it be solved?  They also talk about the national debt and if this is actually a problem.

In the podcast Zac and Don also discuss ideas from the following books:

Day of Empire by Amy Chua

https://www.amazon.com/Day-Empire-Hyperpowers-Global-Dominance/dp/1400077419

The Deficit Myth by Stephanie Kelton

https://www.amazon.com/Deficit-Myth-Monetary-Peoples-Economy/dp/1541736184