Alan Greenspan: Big tax cuts a 'mistake. Fix the debt first

Alan Greenspan has a message for President Trump and Congress: Now is not the time for big tax cuts. Greenspan, the former Federal Reserve chief and Republican economic adviser, is worried about how tax cuts will worsen America's mountain of debt. "Economically, it's a mistake to deal with sharp reductions in taxes now," Greenspan told Fox Business on Thursday (11/9/17). "We are premature on fiscal stimulus, whether it's tax cuts or expenditure increases. We've got to get the debt stabilized before we can even think of those terms," Greenspan said. That stands in stark contrast to the urgent pleas for lower taxes by Trump, who during the campaign dubbed himself the "king of debt." Trump argues the American economy "desperately" needs "massive" tax cuts. That's despite accelerating economic growth and the lowest unemployment rate in 17 years. The White House has said tax cuts are needed to keep the momentum going and improve wage growth, which remains disappointing. Greenspan, who was appointed Fed chair by both Republican and Democratic presidents, argues the United States is already at "full employment." He predicted supply and demand for labor will cause wages to "accelerate" on their own.
Rather than adding to the national debt, Greenspan says Congress needs to put the country on a sustainable fiscal path. Read more...

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