Outgrowing the Deficit

Let me keep pounding the drum I beat yesterday.
 
A front-page article in The New York Times today reinforces the need for politicians to talk about economic growth, not just budget cuts.
 
David Leonardt writes:
 
“We look back on the late 1990s as a rare time when the federal government ran budget surpluses. We tend to forget that those surpluses came as a surprise to almost everybody. As late as 1998, the Congressional Budget Office was predicting a deficit for 1999. In fact, Washington ran its biggest surplus in five decades. What happened? Above all, economic growth. And that may be a big part of the answer to our current problems.”
 
He goes on to show how faster economic growth now could ease the deficit.
 
In politics, a positive and optimistic message always beats gloom and doom. That’s why Ronald Reagan won while many green-eyeshade, bean-counting Republicans lost.
 
Who will relearn that lesson this decade?
 
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Gary Pearce

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Outgrowing the Deficit

Let me keep pounding the drum I beat yesterday.
 
A front-page article in The New York Times today reinforces the need for politicians to talk about economic growth, not just budget cuts.
 
David Leonardt writes:
 
“We look back on the late 1990s as a rare time when the federal government ran budget surpluses. We tend to forget that those surpluses came as a surprise to almost everybody. As late as 1998, the Congressional Budget Office was predicting a deficit for 1999. In fact, Washington ran its biggest surplus in five decades. What happened? Above all, economic growth. And that may be a big part of the answer to our current problems.”
 
He goes on to show how faster economic growth now could ease the deficit.
 
In politics, a positive and optimistic message always beats gloom and doom. That’s why Ronald Reagan won while many green-eyeshade, bean-counting Republicans lost.
 
Who will relearn that lesson this decade?
 
Avatar photo

Gary Pearce

Categories

Archives