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Eugene

(61,593 posts)
Wed May 24, 2017, 03:13 PM May 2017

Donald Trumps $10 trillion magic asterisk

Source: Washington Post

Donald Trump’s $10 trillion magic asterisk

By Matt O'Brien May 24 at 12:54 PM

President Trump's budget only pretends to balance itself in 10 years' time by assuming that the economy will grow at a 3 percent pace between now and then, which is somewhere between wildly optimistic and wildly implausible.

It also might be the most realistic part of Trump's budget.

Now, it was always pretty obvious that Trump was relying on rosy economic projections, but the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget has figured out by just how much. It turns out that even if the economy started partying like it's 1999, that'd only be good enough to get growth back up to 2.9 percent today. Trump's budget promises are akin to when he promised to make “every dream you ever dreamed come true.” And if neither of those propositions seem likely — if you don't think Trump can make things better than they were at the height of the tech bubble — well, then you clearly haven't taken enough classes at Trump University.

But let's back up a minute. Why has what used to be routine — 3 percent growth — become so ambitious now? Simple math. How much the economy grows depends on how much two other things do. Those are how many people are working every day, and how much work people can get done. That first part, though, isn't helping nearly as much as it used to now that so many baby boomers are hitting retirement. And that's not going to change considering that the only way to make workforce growth great again would be to force retirees to get jobs. In all, these demographic headwinds explain about half of the slowdown from the 3 percent growth we've been accustomed to in the postwar period to the 1.9 percent the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office thinks we'll get in the next 10 years.

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Trump's budget is an incredible political document, a self-parodic exercise in hostility to arithmetic, economics and everyone who has the misfortune of being poor or sick. You can tell he only hires the best people.


Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2017/05/24/donald-trumps-10-trillion-magic-asterisk/
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Donald Trumps $10 trillion magic asterisk (Original Post) Eugene May 2017 OP
"Force retirees to get jobs." stopbush May 2017 #1
+1 nitpicker May 2017 #3
It's Kansas tazkcmo May 2017 #2

stopbush

(24,378 posts)
1. "Force retirees to get jobs."
Wed May 24, 2017, 03:23 PM
May 2017

How the hell does THAT happen?

I'm 62, looking for a job and can't get arrested. Ageism is rampant in the job market. I don't care how much experience and success you have, old is OUT. Good luck getting hired for anything.

So, what does it REALLY mean to force retirees to get jobs? It means subjecting them to meaningless, demeaning work that humbles and embarrasses them as they collect the benefits for which they are entitled, having paid into retirement programs for decades. It means shaming them, often and publicly for the crime of growing old.

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