"We need to have new deficits”
Here’s a jaw-dropping quote from OMB Director Mick Mulvaney this morning, courtesy of Bloomberg: “I’ve been very candid about this. We need to have new deficits because of that. We need to have the growth… If we simply look at this as being deficit-neutral, you’re never going to get the type of tax reform and tax reductions that you need to get to sustain 3 percent economic growth.”
Hate to break it to you, Mr. Mulvaney, but this nonsense (and clearly failed) notion has been completely rejected by conservative economists:
Alan Greenspan Former Chair of the Federal Reserve: “They do not [pay for themselves]…Look, I'm very much in favor of tax cuts, but not with borrowed money. And the problem that we've gotten into in recent years is spending programs with borrowed money, tax cuts with borrowed money, and at the end of the day, that proves disastrous. And my view is I don't think we can play subtle policy here on it.” [Meet The Press, 8/1/2010]
Keith Hall, Director, Congressional Budget Office: “No, the evidence is that tax cuts do not pay for themselves…And our models that we're doing, our macroeconomic effects, show that.” [The Hill, 8/25/15]
Douglas Holtz-Eakin, former Congressional Budget Office Director: “I'm a very conservative economist. I would love it if tax cuts paid for themselves, but I'm also someone who looks at the numbers. And there's just no evidence that the tax cuts actually pay for themselves…It's just unlikely that you can move an economy that is approaching $20 trillion in size so much, so fast with a tax cut, that it will turn around and generate even more revenue.” [NPR, 5/9/2017]
David Stockman, former OMB Director for President Ronald Reagan: “It's the same story they told back in 1980s when I was there and I never believed it… [tax cuts would produce] some additional economic growth…[but] most of the revenue loss has to be paid for with spending cuts. You have to earn it. You can't, you know, wave a magic wand.” [NPR, 5/15/2017]
Alan D. Viard, former Senior Economist for President George W. Bush: “Tax policy is clearly not some overwhelmingly powerful tool that affects growth…” [New York Times, 5/23/17]
Joel Slemrod, Director of Office of Tax Policy Research at University of Michigan: “Can tax cuts pay for themselves? The evidence overwhelmingly suggests that this is not true.” [Wall Street Journal, 10/2/17]
Hate to break it to you, Mr. Mulvaney, but this nonsense (and clearly failed) notion has been completely rejected by conservative economists:
Alan Greenspan Former Chair of the Federal Reserve: “They do not [pay for themselves]…Look, I'm very much in favor of tax cuts, but not with borrowed money. And the problem that we've gotten into in recent years is spending programs with borrowed money, tax cuts with borrowed money, and at the end of the day, that proves disastrous. And my view is I don't think we can play subtle policy here on it.” [Meet The Press, 8/1/2010]
Keith Hall, Director, Congressional Budget Office: “No, the evidence is that tax cuts do not pay for themselves…And our models that we're doing, our macroeconomic effects, show that.” [The Hill, 8/25/15]
Douglas Holtz-Eakin, former Congressional Budget Office Director: “I'm a very conservative economist. I would love it if tax cuts paid for themselves, but I'm also someone who looks at the numbers. And there's just no evidence that the tax cuts actually pay for themselves…It's just unlikely that you can move an economy that is approaching $20 trillion in size so much, so fast with a tax cut, that it will turn around and generate even more revenue.” [NPR, 5/9/2017]
David Stockman, former OMB Director for President Ronald Reagan: “It's the same story they told back in 1980s when I was there and I never believed it… [tax cuts would produce] some additional economic growth…[but] most of the revenue loss has to be paid for with spending cuts. You have to earn it. You can't, you know, wave a magic wand.” [NPR, 5/15/2017]
Alan D. Viard, former Senior Economist for President George W. Bush: “Tax policy is clearly not some overwhelmingly powerful tool that affects growth…” [New York Times, 5/23/17]
Joel Slemrod, Director of Office of Tax Policy Research at University of Michigan: “Can tax cuts pay for themselves? The evidence overwhelmingly suggests that this is not true.” [Wall Street Journal, 10/2/17]