Global Investors Are Telling Donald Trump His Deficits and National…
Washington is unnerved these days about budget deficits and the national debt. Deficit angst comes along periodically, often as a pretext for cutting social spending. This time, however, there’s genuine cause for alarm. Outsized deficits are par for the course when the economy is in recession or reeling from a shock like the pandemic or the financial collapse; most of… Continue reading
A New GOP Nightmare: Trump and Democrats Cut a Deal…
Here they go again. Despite the Republicans’ control of the presidency and both houses of Congress, their internal divisions keep on frustrating their plans to accomplish anything of consequence. So, the most polarizing GOP president since Abraham Lincoln has come up with a startling work-around: Cut deals with the Democrats on selected major matters, including funding the government, raising the…Continue reading
The Three Choices for Tax Reform
Trump administration officials and GOP leaders in Congress are still putting together their tax plan. Nevertheless, the early signs point to decisions that could sink the project or produce changes that would jeopardize economic growth. Congress can approach changing the corporate tax in one of three ways. It can try to simplify the code, it can reform it, or it…Continue reading
The Trump Administration is Disrupting the 2020 Census – And…
The decennial Census is a genuinely powerful institution in American life. I didn’t understand its impact until I oversaw the Census Bureau as it prepared and carried out the 2000 decennial Census, when I was Under Secretary of Commerce for Economic Affairs. Believe me, the upcoming 2020 decennial Census will matter more than you think. Yet, Congress and now the…Continue reading
It’s Still the Economy, Stupid!
Republicans know that the terrain for next year’s midterm elections could be treacherous. Off the record, they bemoan their inability to enact their agenda and mourn President Donald Trump’s unpopularity. In principle, the GOP still might get its act together and pass a tax reform with new tax breaks for middle class taxpayers. Events unforeseen and unimagined could offer Trump…Continue reading
How to Raise Incomes and Delay the Next Recession
Last October, mulling over the economic environment the next President would face, I sent Hillary Clinton memos on how she should provide some stimulus to sustain the current expansion and raise incomes by boosting business investment and productivity. Alas, she did not become President; but that didn’t change our current economic challenges. To be sure, President Trump’s manifold troubles may…Continue reading
Trump’s Tax Plan is Aimed at the 2018 and 2020…
President Trump wants to cut the tax rate for all American businesses to 15 percent, and damn the deficit. If you believe him, any damage from higher deficits will be minor compared to the benefits for US competitiveness, economic efficiency, and tax fairness. The truth is, those claims are nonsense; and the real agenda here is the 2018 and 2020…Continue reading
Donald Trump and Paul Ryan’s Plan to Put Foreign Investors…
The “Border Adjustment Tax” (BAT) endorsed recently by President Trump is his administration’s first foray into international economics. It is an inauspicious start. BAT advocates like House Speaker Paul Ryan promise it will cut the trade deficit by making U.S. exports cheaper abroad and foreign imports more expensive here. The truth is, a BAT won’t much affect U.S. exports or…Continue reading
The Case for Guaranteed Access to Prescription Drugs
Everyone complains about the prices of prescription drugs. Yet, 60 percent of us use them, because they help relieve our pain, improve the quality of our lives, and extend our lifespans. The older we are, the more prescription drugs we consume — and not only because older people usually have more healthcare issues. Equally important, older Americans have guaranteed access…Continue reading