"To get the long-term fiscal picture back to being sustainable, a slow down in expenditure is necessary. The proposed legislation tries to achieve that. However, this long running cap on spending will translate to an equally long-term period of sub 3% economic growth. I wouldn’t be surprised it the GDP gains matched the growth in expenditures in the future. That would mean GDP averages about 1.8% for the next eight years or so.
If 1.8% GDP for the next eight years were the outcome, it would be a disaster. The non-discretionary side of the budget will explode regardless of economic performance. If GDP does not rise by a minimum of 3% (average), tax receipts will fall well below plan, and the budget will explode on its own. We will be at 200% debt to GDP by 2021 if sub 2% growth is in our future. We either grow or die; but, we can’t grow without bigger deficits and more debt. What do you call this? Dilemma comes to mind. Alternatives include, quandary, tight spot, predicament, impasse or catch-22. A problem, is what it is."
--http://brucekrasting.blogspot.com/2011/12/payroll-tax-deal-what-does-it-cost.html
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