but the smart money
says that they have no idea
what they are doing
Adapted from the article, Trump’s tax cuts and Musk’s Doge show they have no idea about US debt by Jeffrey Frankel.
Mr. Frankel is professor of capital formation and growth at Harvard University and he is a research associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research.
He writes:
During Trump’s first term in office, he added $8tn to the national debt – all previous presidents combined had accumulated $20tn – despite having promised to run budget surpluses so large that they would eliminate the national debt within two terms.
In the campaign, he vowed to cut taxes for seemingly every group that caught his fancy. According to the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget’s central estimate, Trump’s tax proposals imply $10tn in forgone revenue over the next 10 years. Add to that an extra $1tn in interest accrued on the national debt, and the losses far exceed the $3tn in added revenue that would come from the sky-high tariffs Trump has pledged to introduce. This will require the federal government to sell a lot of bonds – a practice that will keep their price low and interest rates high.
Oh well, so the Emperor has no clothes.
When has anyone noticed before?
When has anyone cared?
Mr. Frankel closes with the line: Supporters often say that a businessman like Trump or Musk will know how to put America’s fiscal house in order. But the smart money says they have no idea what they are doing.
I am reminded of something Harry Truman was supposed to have said.
President Truman said, some claim, that he did not fire General Douglas MacArthur for being a dumb son-of-a-bitch.
He didn’t, Truman said, because that isn’t against the law for Generals.
No Haiku For You 