Commentary
Op-Eds and articles by Robert Rubin on the U.S. economy, democracy, fiscal policy, poverty, criminal justice, decision-making, and other areas of public policy.
The GOP wants to cut funding to the IRS. We can’t let that happen.
By Robert E. Rubin and Jacob J. Lew
If Benjamin Franklin were alive today, he might update his famous aphorism: The only certainties in life are death, taxes — and partisanship. And right now, a fight that combines two of those certitudes is brewing in Washington.
H.R. 1 and H.R. 4 would reform our democracy. They’d also help our economy.
By Robert E. Rubin
H.R. 1, the For the People Act, and H.R. 4, the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, are commonly framed as bills to reform our democracy. But they’re also key to our economic future.
America’s debt has exploded. Why does no one care?
By Robert E. Rubin
At a panel I recently moderated in New York about our country’s unsustainable fiscal outlook, someone asked a simple question: So what? Nothing bad has happened despite immense fiscal deterioration — our debt-to-GDP ratio has more than doubled in less than 20 years, from 33 percent in 2000 to 78 percent today, and is on course to reach nearly 100 percent in 10 years and continue rising — so why worry now?