The Gist

Dumb About Deficits

Adam Davidson tries to heal our debt of understanding.

By
House Speaker Paul Ryan leaves the House Chamber following a vote to fund the government on Friday in Washington.

Zach Gibson/Getty Images

Listen to Episode 927 of Slate’s The Gist:

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On The Gist, it’s The $10,000 Pyramid with a budget deal twist.

Is it possible we don’t know enough about national debt to call our politicians when they’re peddling nonsense? New Yorker staff writer Adam Davidson addresses some common misconceptions and sums up the Republican tax cuts and spending bill this way: “Rich people are stealing the money.”

In the Spiel, the Olympics are back, and the Russians got off easy.

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