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When Facebook (FB) goes public later this week, the next generation of ultra-rich 20-something techies will have been created.

"You are looking at the potential of scores, if not hundreds of millionaires," says Matthew Miller, editor for the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, a daily ranking of the wealthiest 20 people in the world. Miller's estimate is on the conservative end of the spectrum. In February, when the company announced its IPO, many put the number of people to rake in at least seven-figures at a thousand or more.

Of course, along with the newly minted millionaires will be a handful of billionaires, including the just-turned 28-year-old Facebook co-founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg. According to the head-hunter Spencer Stuart, Zuckerberg is half the age of the average S&P 500 CEO and has logged more time at the helm than the typical leader.

The exact amount of each individual's net worth all depends upon where the stock initially prices and eventually trades. Shares of the social media giant are in such hot demand from investors that Facebook increased its target range to $34 to $38 a share from the earlier range of $28 to $35 a share in what has become the most anticipated initial public offering since Google in 2004.

Using a share price of $35, now on the lower end of the spectrum, Miller and his team estimate Zuckerberg will be worth a whopping $17.6 billion, which makes him the 35^th richest person in the world on the Bloomberg Billionaire Index. That means Zuckerberg will be worth more than the GDP of some countries and will have amassed more wealth than Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, Dell Inc. founder Michel Dell, Virgin founder Richard Branson and even Donald Trump. (Editor's Note: This interview was taped ahead of Facebook's move to raise its target IPO range.)

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In, Unintended Consequences: Why Everything You've Been Told About the Economy Is Wrong, Edward Conard sets out to provide "a prescription for how to grow the economy."

Thanks to a recent NY Times Magazine article, and because he worked closely with GOP presidential hopeful Mitt Romney at Bain Capital, Conard has become a lightning rod for controversy -- described by some as a champion of income inequality.

There are elements of this in Conard's book -- such as when he argues the societal benefits of economic competition is closer to 20-to-1 -- meaning society gets $20 of value for every $1 an investor earns -- vs. the 5-to-1 level commonly cited. But, in reality, Conard's book is pretty standard conservative economic fare wrapped with a philosophical view that is unique, at least in its public expression.

"Underneath the book is a moral argument," he says. "Talented people have a responsibility to get the training they need to be successful risk

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In late February Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke started warning lawmakers about the looming "massive fiscal cliff" that would bring the U.S. economy to its knees if Congress cannot agree on long-term fiscal decisions. Bernanke explained that the confluence of events happening Jan. 1, 2013 - the expiration of the Bush-era tax cuts and extended unemployment benefits, the $1.2 trillion automatic spending reductions and the end of the payroll tax holiday — will likely lead to a recession in the U.S.

Neither political party wants this worst-case scenario to come to fruition but lawmakers are likely to "kick the can down the road" instead of addressing these pressing policy issues before the November elections says Greg Valliere, chief political strategist at Potomac Research Group. Bernanke reiterated his concerns to a select group of lawmakers last week, escalating his rhetoric about the necessity of resolving these budget concerns sooner rather than later.

"I think [Bernanke] is worried, and people at the Fed are worried because this is such a dysfunctional group," says Valliere in the accompanying video. "And there's talk now of a government shutdown on Oct. 1 when the new fiscal year starts."

Bernanke's admonition was not lost on the senators who attended the vis-à-vis encounter. Bernanke probably told lawmakers "you guys got to get your act together because if we do nothing in December…the impact on GDP will be so adverse it will probably lead to a recession," Valliere says.

The economic recovery has proven to be tepid but many in Washington remain convinced the economy will be strong enough to dodge a recession. Recent data suggest otherwise.

The government reported economic growth in the first quarter slowed to 2.2 percent from 3 percent during the last three months of 2011. Employers hired fewer workers in April, adding a mere 115,000 jobs compared to 154,000 in March. Most economists agree that the economy needs to create at least new 200,000 jobs every month for several years to get back to pre-2008 levels. The pro-growth programs that expire at the end of the year could be the setback that triggers another recession. Bernanke verbalized these fears at an April 25 press conference.