George Bush: Deficit Reducer? (BIRNBAUM ON WASHINGTON )

[coda]

BIRNBAUM ON WASHINGTON

George Bush: Deficit Reducer?
The President wants to focus on restraining government spending--at least in the long term, says economic adviser Greg Mankiw in an interview with FORTUNE.com. But will this really happen?
FORTUNE
Monday, August 18, 2003
By Jeffrey H. Birnbaum


And now for something completely different: The Bush administration will work hard to reduce the federal budget deficit.

Or at least that's what Greg Mankiw, chairman of the White House’s Council of Economic Advisers, said in an interview with Fortune.com last week. "It's the administration position that we want these deficits to shrink," he says. "The way to do that is a combination of more rapid growth, which will bring in revenues, and restraining government spending. Restraining government spending is a key part of the program. We don't want deficits to get out of hand."

There is reason to doubt this will happen. So far, President Bush, aided mightily by a willing Congress, has been one of the biggest spenders and tax-cutters around. Indeed, budget deficits have soared for the federal government over the past two years. A combination of economic sluggishness, the global war on terrorism, increased spending for homeland security, the war in Iraq, deep tax-cutting, and a dearth of spending restraint has the deficit ballooning to over $400 billion a year.

<snip>

President Bush gave a signal of this new emphasis on deficit reduction last week when, after meeting with his economic advisers in Crawford, Texas, he said that he didn’t expect to propose any additional major tax cuts this year. The reason, he said, was that there already was enough economic stimulus in the pipeline to bring back robust economic growth and job creation. The tax cuts he's championed and the deep reductions in interest rates by the Fed should be enough to return the nation to financial health and soon, Bush asserted.





more....

http://www.fortune.com/fortune/washington/

[cosmicaug]

1. Better link

http://www.fortune.com/fortune/washington/0,15704,476605,00.html (the originally posted link will point to the wrong place the moment Birbaum's next column is posted).

[swinney]

2. DEFICITS ARE OUT OF HAND --OUT OF WORLD

REMEMBER 290B AS RECORD SETTER BY VOODOO BUSH?

LOOK AT 500B PLUS. THAT IS HUGH.

[TheYellowDog]

3. OMG

Greg Mankiw? That schmuck wrote my economics textbook that I used in high school. It was a BORING book. :P