The paramount importance of persistence is one I wish I had been told earlier, and the paramount importance of the golden rule is another, and countless times I’ve benefited from both of these. In my case, being cautious is advice I’ve needed because I tend to be fearless, and while that is often to my advantage, it can get me into trouble too.
As part of my series about “authors who are making an important social impact”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Richard Vague.
Richard Vague is the author of The Paradox of Debt, which presents a new view of macroeconomics, The Case for a Debt Jubilee, a policy exploration of debt relief, An Illustrated Business History of the United States, the story of our nation’s business progress, A Brief History of Doom, a chronicle of major world financial crises, and The Next Economic Disaster, a book with a new approach for predicting and preventing financial crises. He previously served Secretary of Banking and Securities for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and was co-founder, Chairman and CEO of Energy Plus, an electricity and natural gas supply company, and co-founder and CEO of two consumer credit card banks, First USA and Juniper Bank.
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Before we dive into the main focus of our interview, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you tell us a bit about your childhood backstory?
I grew up in Texas, ran out of money putting myself through college, and grabbed the first job that would have me, which happened to be in banking. That led me to a career in the one area I didn’t expect — business. I am now married with six grown kids and live in Philadelphia, just a few blocks down from Independence Hall, a place where you can drop by and hang with Franklin, Jefferson and the other usual suspects.
When you were younger, was there a book that you read that inspired you to take action or changed your life? Can you share a story about that?
I was a voracious reader of biographies, George Washington, Thomas Edison, Helen Keller and everything else I could get my hands on. The ones I reveled in most were about creators like Miles Davis and Pablo Picasso.
It has been said that our mistakes can be our greatest teachers. Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
My goodness, I’ve made a lot of mistakes but not many seemed funny. I do recall a painful moment when as a young man I was making a sales presentation to an august group at an important establishment, and made the key point so many times that they finally burst out laughing. The lesson was brevity, of course.
Can you describe how you aim to make a significant social impact with your book?
Though the book covers many topics, one of the profound trends it explains is the relentless and inexorable rise in inequality, along with ways to better address that dilemma.
Can you share with us the most interesting story that you shared in your book?
While there aren’t many stories per se, I think the most interesting thing is the number of economic myths that are overturned in the book. For example, most claim that the global crisis of 2008 was impossible to foresee, but we show it could easily have been foreseen. Others have long claimed that Americans are poor savers, while we show that they are the best savers in the world. The list goes on.
What was the “aha moment” or series of events that made you decide to bring your message to the greater world? Can you share a story about that?
The “aha moment” was the Global Financial Crisis itself, which the experts had so utterly failed to foresee. They missed it because orthodox economics does not consider private sector debt in its modeling — an egregious omission. I took that moment to begin to dig deeply into the subject of debt, and this will be my fifth book on that subject. This book is the culmination of what is now 15 years of work on understanding debt.
Without sharing specific names, can you tell us a story about a particular individual who was impacted or helped by your cause?
A prominent African American businesswoman who specializes in providing capital to minority businesses took one of my talks as inspiration to take a similar message on an upcoming national tour. I may have the opportunity to accompany her.
Are there three things the community/society/politicians can do to help you address the root of the problem you are trying to solve?
A big one is creative new ways to bring debt relief for struggling households, and I think there are a lot of things to do here. Another one is boosting the incomes of those in middle and lower income tiers by providing widespread and extensive job training. We have lots of high-paying jobs available where there aren’t enough qualified candidates to fill them. It’s a big opportunity. A third way is to intervene sooner to prevent financial crises such as our 2008 Global Financial Crisis to prevent millions from getting hurt in the first place, and we explore ways to do that.
How do you define “Leadership”? Can you explain what you mean or give an example?
Leadership means establishing a clear vision or direction for an organization, assembling the best resources to attain that vision or direction, and then marshalling and assisting those resources to make sure the desired results are reached.
What are your “5 things I wish someone told me when I first started” and why? Please share a story or example for each.
The paramount importance of persistence is one I wish I had been told earlier, and the paramount importance of the golden rule is another, and countless times I’ve benefited from both of these. In my case, being cautious is advice I’ve needed because I tend to be fearless, and while that is often to my advantage, it can get me into trouble too.
But the most important advice I wish I had received early on is simply to be myself — to avoid adopting a persona and instead just be who I am. For example, when I started in business, I falsely adopted the demeanor and vocabulary of a businessperson rather than my own natural demeanor and vocabulary. It took me a while to figure that one out.
That’s not five but those are the ones that have been most important to me.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
“If you have made mistakes, even serious mistakes, you may have a fresh start any moment you choose, for this thing we call “failure” is not the falling down, but the staying down.”
― Mary Pickford
I’ve needed to get back up more than a few times along the way.
Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would like to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this, especially if we tag them.
Biden, of course. I have a few things I need for him to get done.
How can our readers further follow your work online?
richardvague.com
This was very meaningful, thank you so much. We wish you only continued success on your great work!
Social Impact Authors: How & Why Author Richard Vague Is Helping To Change Our World was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.