Forecast of weak economic growth raises big questions about Trump’s populist agenda

The following article by Damian Paletta, Ana Swanson and Max Ehrenfreund was posted on the Washington Post website July 13, 2017:

Credit: (Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP

President Trump’s budget would not add to economic growth or eliminate the deficit in coming years, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said Thursday, casting doubt on a plan the White House has touted as central to achieving the president’s domestic agenda.

The CBO projected that the economy would grow at only 1.9 percent under the White House’s plan — far below the 3 percent goal the administration continued to outline as recently as Thursday. It also warned that contrary to White House claims that deep cuts to the safety net in the budget would lead to a financial surplus in a decade, the deficit would actually be $720 billion. Continue reading “Forecast of weak economic growth raises big questions about Trump’s populist agenda”