Karl Smith

Washington, D.C.

MB Archives https://t.co/NwFxSqWHrc || Opinion my own || Still just that same age-old problem: how does one get from three to four?

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Articles

The Trump Tax Cuts Were Neither Panacea Nor Rip-Off

Apr 4, 2024 | bloomberg.com | Karl Smith

The breaks are due to expire in 2025, making it an election-year issue. Whatever is decided, reversing the benefits given to businesses is the last thing lawmakers should do. Back in 2017, the debate around President Donald Trump’s tax cuts was a case study in how quickly a discussion around legitimate policy can descend into partisan nonsense. On one side, Republicans spouted unfounded claims that the tax cuts would pay for themselves.
Raising retirement age is the least bad option

Apr 1, 2024 | postguam.com | Karl Smith

Republicans in Congress have proposed a plan to shore up the Social Security Trust Fund, mainly by slowly increasing the retirement age from 67 to 69. Despite an immediate objection from President Joe Biden and top Democrats, raising the retirement age is crucial to the long-term health of Social Security. As recently as 2020, Social Security took in more revenue than it paid in benefits.
Raising Social Security's retirement age is the least bad option

Mar 29, 2024 | centredaily.com | Karl Smith

In this photo illustration, a Social Security card sits alongside checks from the U.S. Treasury on October 14, 2021, in Washington, DC. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images/TNS) TNS Republicans in Congress have proposed a plan to shore up the Social Security Trust Fund, mainly by slowly increasing the retirement age from 67 to 69. Despite an immediate objection from President Joe Biden and top Democrats, raising the retirement age is crucial to the long-term health of Social Security.
Raising Social Security’s Retirement Age Is the Least Bad Option

Mar 28, 2024 | bloomberg.com | Karl Smith

Facing a $150 billion shortfall this year alone, the program requires radical measures to shore it up or benefit cuts will be almost impossible to avoid. Republicans in Congress have proposed a plan to shore up the Social Security Trust Fund, mainly by slowly increasing the retirement age from 67 to 69. Despite an immediate objection from President Joe Biden and top Democrats, raising the retirement age is crucial to the long-term health of Social Security.
Intel Getting $20 Billion From Chips Act Exposes American Weakness

Mar 22, 2024 | bloomberg.com | Robert Burgess |Karl Smith

The funds provided under the Chips Act carry too many conditions tied to the Biden administration’s progressive agenda to be effective. Intel Inc. is receiving $20 billion in grants and loans to help finance the expansion of its production capacity in the US, becoming the largest beneficiary by far of the 2022 Chips and Science Act, the cornerstone of President Joe Biden’s plan to reverse a decades-long decline in the US’s share of global semiconductor output.
If Only Congress Would Focus on the Deficit That Matters

Mar 6, 2024 | bloomberg.com | Karl Smith

The metric that economists prefer suggests America’s fiscal health may be even better now than before the pandemic. All the fearmongering in Washington over the $1.5 trillion federal budget deficit hides a truth few politicians would admit — that hefty headline number you hear so much about is an unreliable measure of US fiscal health. Savvy economists prefer what’s known as the primary deficit, which is the overall shortfall minus what the government spends each year on interest payments.
Shutdown Politics Only Enables Bad Economics

Feb 27, 2024 | bloomberg.com | Karl Smith

Threatening to close the government to achieve a one-time cut to discretionary spending is just feckless posturing. If the fiscal hawks really want to take a stand, they need to address entitlements and taxes. The US government is barreling toward a partial shutdown on March 2 all because Congress can’t agree on a budget. The major obstacle is a small group of hardline Republicans in the House, who prefer to trigger $100 billion of automatic spending cuts than produce a bipartisan budget.
The CBO’s Government Debt Forecasts Can't Be Relied Upon

Feb 25, 2024 | bloomberg.com | Karl Smith

The bipartisan congressional agency always gets the outlook for interest rates wrong, suggesting America’s fiscal future isn’t as bleak as it wants you to believe. US federal debt will reach a record 116% of gross domestic productby 2034, up from 93% today. That’s according to the Congressional Budget Office. As the bipartisan Washington agency tasked with being the umpire in disputes over how legislation will affect the economy, its estimates have some credibility.
Trump's China Trade Tariffs Fall Short on Metrics That Matter

Feb 12, 2024 | bloomberg.com | Karl Smith

The US trade deficit with China may have shrunk, but it has expanded with other countries where Chinese companies have a big presence. We just learned that the US trade deficit with China is the narrowest in more than 13 years at $279.4 billion. This must be proof that the tariffs put in place by former President Donald Trump are working, right? Not so fast.
Trump’s Proposed China Tariffs Would Be a Fiscal Disaster for the US

Jan 31, 2024 | bloomberg.com | Karl Smith

Higher tariffs would not only wreck the US economy and wreak havoc with global supply chains, they would also devastate the federal budget. Even as US businesses lobby President Joe Biden to reduce or eliminate the tariffs his predecessor imposed on Chinese imports, Donald Trump is doubling down — quintupling down, in fact. Trump is considering a 60% tariff on all Chinese imports if he is reelected, according to reports, which would be five times the current average rate of 12%.