After reading thelesson, you should have a clear understanding of the difference between the national debt and the deficit. The Treasury regularly updates the amount of the national debt. The debt has helped pay for many programs over the years. However, we are barely paying the interest on the debt each year. The debt hit the one trillion dollar mark in 1981. Your task is to interview a family or community member, who voted in the last election, about the national debt. Please include the following in your interview:

• the interviewee's age
• the interviewee's political party affiliation
• explain how the interviewee feels about America having a deficit
• explain the interviewee's beliefs regarding the impact the deficit has on the level of investment spending
• explain how the interviewee feels about America having a large national debt
• explain the interviewee's thoughts about whether the federal government should actively work to prevent recessions/depressions and if so, how should it do that
• explain his or her solutions for solving the national debt
• explain your reaction to the interview, based upon what you have learned thus far in the course