>To the extent the bill tightens the belt, it does so in the wrong places. As life expectancies rise and the population ages, America should trim handouts to the old, for example by raising the retirement age. Instead, pensioners are getting a tax break and Republicans are cutting Medicaid, health insurance for the hard-up. Some sensible measures include reducing the ability of states to game the system for more federal cash. Yet according to official projections, the overall effect will be to add nearly 12m to the number of Americans without health insurance. That is a scandalous number for the world’s richest big country. Many of those who lose coverage will fall foul of new requirements that recipients must work. Such rules have in the past created an obstacle course of paperwork for claimants while failing to boost employment.
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The BBB’s neglect of the long term is part of a wider malaise. Riding high on America’s economic might and undoubted negotiating leverage, Mr Trump ignores the foundations of America’s success. He has renewed his attacks on the Fed, adding another threat to economic stability. His defunding of scientific research will harm American innovation. His cavalier approach to the rule of law makes America a riskier place to invest. And despite the moderation of his trade war, the average tariff rate is still its highest in a century and trade-policy uncertainty is a burden. Even as American assets boom in dollar terms, they have fallen behind when priced in foreign currencies. An 11% fall in the dollar this year reflects long-term risks to the American economy that are real, and growing.
Maximilianne on
so ignoring political economy for a sec, can bond markets auctions even fail ? I assume at worst the bonds just sell for higher interest rates than what the government can practically bear, but going back to political economy, given America is under the MAGA cult, they can always do a chocolate rations speech and convince the public that larger and larger parts of the budget should go towards interest payments while raising taxes on the poors via tariffs and whatnot. Yes I know this is terrible, but you can’t deny there is a non zero chance the public will accept this
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>To the extent the bill tightens the belt, it does so in the wrong places. As life expectancies rise and the population ages, America should trim handouts to the old, for example by raising the retirement age. Instead, pensioners are getting a tax break and Republicans are cutting Medicaid, health insurance for the hard-up. Some sensible measures include reducing the ability of states to game the system for more federal cash. Yet according to official projections, the overall effect will be to add nearly 12m to the number of Americans without health insurance. That is a scandalous number for the world’s richest big country. Many of those who lose coverage will fall foul of new requirements that recipients must work. Such rules have in the past created an obstacle course of paperwork for claimants while failing to boost employment.
>
The BBB’s neglect of the long term is part of a wider malaise. Riding high on America’s economic might and undoubted negotiating leverage, Mr Trump ignores the foundations of America’s success. He has renewed his attacks on the Fed, adding another threat to economic stability. His defunding of scientific research will harm American innovation. His cavalier approach to the rule of law makes America a riskier place to invest. And despite the moderation of his trade war, the average tariff rate is still its highest in a century and trade-policy uncertainty is a burden. Even as American assets boom in dollar terms, they have fallen behind when priced in foreign currencies. An 11% fall in the dollar this year reflects long-term risks to the American economy that are real, and growing.
so ignoring political economy for a sec, can bond markets auctions even fail ? I assume at worst the bonds just sell for higher interest rates than what the government can practically bear, but going back to political economy, given America is under the MAGA cult, they can always do a chocolate rations speech and convince the public that larger and larger parts of the budget should go towards interest payments while raising taxes on the poors via tariffs and whatnot. Yes I know this is terrible, but you can’t deny there is a non zero chance the public will accept this