Obama's Heroic Growth Assumptions
The following commentary comes from an independent investor or market observer as part of TheStreet's guest contributor program, which is separate from the company's news coverage.
NEW YORK (
) --President Obama's 2013 budget projects a fiscal year 2012 deficit (that's the the year ending in September) at $1.3 trillion -- up from less than $1 trillion a month ago. However, like all presidents with lots of red ink, he is promising to dramatically reduce the deficit by the time his successor takes office.
The budget projects a $612 billion deficit in fiscal yea 2017 -- if Congress follows the president's prescriptions to raise taxes on the wealthy and if we buy the president's growth assumptions.
Obama outlines his fiscal policy. |
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The budget assumes Obama will have a second term that astounds economists -- his budget assumes 3.9% growth from 2014 to 2017. That is well beyond what most private economists would concede is likely.
If you believe that one, Mayor Bloomberg is selling shares in the Brooklyn Bridge.
Professor Peter Morici, of the Robert H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland, is a recognized expert on economic policy and international economics. Prior to joining the university, he served as director of the Office of Economics at the U.S. International Trade Commission. He is the author of 18 books and monographs and has published widely in leading public policy and business journals, including the Harvard Business Review and Foreign Policy. Morici has lectured and offered executive programs at more than 100 institutions, including Columbia University, the Harvard Business School and Oxford University. His views are frequently featured on CNN, CBS, BBC, FOX, ABC, CNBC, NPR, NPB and national broadcast networks around the world.
