Trump economists say the most unbelievable things

Merrill Matthews argues that claims from the Trump administration — specifically that higher economic growth can offset the nations mounting federal debt — are misleading. Matthews frames the administrations growth-based defense of current fiscal policy as dishonest, given the scale of the debt problem he describes.

To support his critique, Matthews points to a Government Accountability Office report projecting that federal debt will expand at more than twice the pace of the economy over the coming decade. That projection, he contends, undercuts the idea that growth alone can close the gap created by what he describes as roughly $40 trillion in federal obligations.

Matthews uses the GAO numbers to challenge assertions from Trump-era economists who promote economic expansion as the primary remedy for fiscal shortfalls. He presents the GAO projection as evidence that such claims are unrealistic when measured against anticipated debt trajectories.

The piece focuses on the tension between optimistic growth-based policy claims and official budgetary forecasts, with Matthews urging readers to weigh independent projections like the GAOs when evaluating proposals that rely heavily on future growth to solve long-term fiscal challenges.