Do Economists Support the Biden Plan?

David BoazAsI wrote in March, President Biden repeatedly claimed that essentially all economists supported his $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan: “The American Rescue Plan … will generate economic growth for the entire nation. That’s why major economists — left, right, and center — support this plan.” “Every single major economist out there — left, right, and center — supported this plan.” And in a CNN Town Hall:This is the first time in my career — and as you can tell, I’m over 30 — the first time in my career that there is a consensus among economists left, right, and center that is over ‐ — and including the IMF and in Europe — that the overwhelming consensus is: In order to grow the economy a year or two, three, and four down the line, we can ’t spend too much. Now is the time we should be spending. Now is the time to go big.But it just wasn ’t true, asPolitiFact andI pointed out.And now there ’s a new data point. Harvard professor Jason Furman, chairman of President Barack Obama ’s Council of Economic Advisers,told Bloomberg this month that the American Rescue Plan was definitely “too big for the moment,” stating: “I don’t know of any economist that was recommending something the size of what was done.”Furman doesn ’t know of “any economist ” who supported the $1.9 trillion plan. To be clear, lots of economists supported the actual Covid‐​related measures in the bill regarding testing, ...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - Category: American Health Authors: Source Type: blogs