The CBO’s Economic Outlook

The Congressional Budget Office, a Koch-funded organization known to be affiliated with the Tea Party, writes,

CBO estimates that the ACA will reduce the total number of hours worked, on net, by about 1.5 percent to 2.0 percent during the period from 2017 to 2024, almost entirely because workers will choose to supply less labor—given the new taxes and other incentives they will face and the financial benefits some will receive.

They also write,

Federal revenues are expected to grow by about 9 percent this year, to $3.0 trillion, or 17.5 percent of GDP—just above their average percentage of the past 40 years…

Federal outlays are expected to increase by 2.6 percent this year, to $3.5 trillion, or 20.5 percent of GDP—their average percentage over the past 40 years. CBO projects that under current law, outlays will grow faster than the economy during the next decade and will equal 22.4 percent of GDP in 2024.

These right-wing nut cases do not acknowledge that the real problem that we face is austerity.

5 thoughts on “The CBO’s Economic Outlook

  1. I loved those choose your own adventure books as a kid, so choose your own comment.

    Jeez, Kling, I came here to calm my nerves, and now you are telling me that it doesn’t matter what blog I’m on…changing my attitude doesn’t change the fact that they really are out to get me.

    or

    Only paranoid fiscal responsibilists think the costs that weren’t told upfront aren’t worth the benefits that aren’t materializing.

  2. Wouldn’t balancing the federal budget destroy corporate profits and hence the stock market? Per the Kalecki profit equation, individual and government dis-saving are major drivers of corporate profits…

    • The Kalecki profit equation is just an accounting identity. There’s no causation there, so it is quite wrong to say these things are “drivers” of corporate profits. We do know that if the federal budget were balanced, then “crowding in” would result in more private sector investment. Whether that would result in higher or lower corporate profits would depend on institutional structures, consumer preferences, etc.

      Unfortunately this kind of accounting identity thinking (and the KPE in particular) is much beloved of MMTers and other weird post-Keynesians.

  3. Even the noblest aims have to leave a little room for occasional catharsis. This was wicked good.

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