Harris Proposes To Increase Deficit By 0.5 Percent Of GDP Over Next Decade – OpEd

In an effort to promote hysteria, the media have jumped on the proposals laid out by Vice-President Harris, telling their audience that they will increase the deficit by $1.7 trillion over the next decade. This estimate comes from the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget and includes a lot of guesswork, like the cost of Harris’ proposal for a first-time homebuyer tax credit, which is not well-defined at this point.

However, the key point here is that almost no one knows how much money $1.7 trillion is over the next decade. When the media present this figure, they are essentially telling their audience nothing.

It would take all of ten seconds to write this number in a way that would be meaningful to most people. GDP isprojectedto be $352 trillion over the next decade, so this sum will be a bit less than 0.5 percent of projected GDP. The country is projected to spend $84.9 trillion over this period, so Harris’ proposals would increase total spending by roughly 2.0 percent.

If the point is to inform their audience, it is hard to understand why the media would not take the few seconds needed to put large budget numbers in context. On the other hand, if the point is to promote fears of exploding deficits, they are going a good route.

• This first article appeared on Dean Baker’s Beat the Press blog.