Why America’s $40 Trillion Debt Matters to Your Wallet

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**Michael Smerconish** (1:01)
The nation is 40 trillion with a T, $40 trillion in debt, and my guest warned us about this. He's been warning us about it. Michael Peterson is the Chair and Chief Executive Officer of the Peter G. Peterson Foundation, and he's in studio with me. Nice to finally meet and say hello. You've been a guest of mine in the past on CNN, but I'm thrilled that you're here.

**Michael A. Peterson** (1:25)
Well, thank you for having me, glad to talk about this important subject.

**Michael Smerconish** (1:28)
Shame that you're here, right, to talk about this subject.

**Michael A. Peterson** (1:30)
I wish I didn't have to be here, yes.

**Michael Smerconish** (1:33)
So here's the way that I would like to begin, because last Saturday on CNN, I did my best to tell the story. Now you can fact check me, but it's a remarkable story about your dad, and it all begins in Kearney, Nebraska. What happened in Kearney, Nebraska?

**Michael A. Peterson** (1:48)
Well, we can go back a little further, begins in Greece. So his parents, my grandparents were born in Greece. They came through Ellis Island, like many immigrants.
And you're right, they settled out in Kearney, Nebraska. They came as teenagers with no money, no education, no English. And they started what my dad would affectionately call the inevitable Greek diner out in Kearney. And it was open, as you noted, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year for 25 years in a row. And for me, that exemplifies the American dream. They came with nothing, they worked hard, they saved for the future, they invested in the future of their family, they put their son, my dad, through college. And it was all about building a better life for the next generation. And that was the ethos of the family and the country at that time.

**Michael Smerconish** (2:37)
True that dad literally rang the register as a young boy?

**Michael A. Peterson** (2:40)
Yep. He would chase people down the street for, you know, to make sure they paid their bill. And he was running the cash register. And, you know, my grandfather worked extremely hard there, you know, for many years.

**Michael Smerconish** (2:51)
Did your grandparents on that side of the family get to see your father's success?

**Michael A. Peterson** (2:56)
They did. They did. Not all of it. But they lived into their 80s.

**Michael Smerconish** (3:00)
Wasn't that great?

**Michael A. Peterson** (3:01)
And they did see my father appointed to the cabinet of the Nixon administration. And he was the first Greek cabinet officer. And it was a very proud moment for the family.

**Michael Smerconish** (3:10)
So before he goes to the Nixon administration, he is running Bell & Howell for the young among us.
What is, what was Bell & Howell? It means something to me.

**Michael A. Peterson** (3:20)
Yes, well, that was a camera and cinematography company. And he graduated from Northwestern, went to the University of Chicago Business School at night, and rose through the ranks and very quickly became CEO of a pretty large company in the United States at a very young age. So that's where he launched his career.

**Michael Smerconish** (3:40)
Nixon brings him in to handle International Economic Affairs, and then next makes your father, Pete Peterson, the Secretary of Commerce.

**Michael A. Peterson** (3:48)
Right, right. Yes, he spent a couple of years in Washington, ended up leaving there to go to New York soon thereafter.

**Michael Smerconish** (3:56)
Goes to Lehman Brothers, runs it for 11 years. At least this is what I heard the guy say on CNN. And then with Steve Schwartzman, he starts Blackstone. For the uninitiated, what is Blackstone?

**Michael A. Peterson** (4:08)