Economic growth can lift people out of poverty faster than anything else. But growth also helps with some of the most dysfunctional aspects of our government, especially overgrown debt. Indeed, in a political environment in which doing the right thing—i.e., cutting spending and reforming the drivers of government debt—is unlikely, sustained economic growth would provide a relatively easy and pain-free way to chip away significantly at our $31 trillion federal debt. And if by some miracle politicians did decide finally to cut spending, economic growth would certainly help the proverbial medicine go down more easily.