Fed Chair Alan Greenspan in early 2000 convinced GW Bush that he could finance GW’s war on terror without raising taxes by borrowing money at ultra-low interest rates. America’s sovereign debt had AAA credit rating at the time, and still does with two of the three major accreditation agencies. Greenspan maintained we could have a “soft landing” if the US economy overheated by tightening credit gradually without causing a recession.
Problem was the Fed under Greenspan held rates down too long with too easy credit as inflation began to rise and the economy overheated, resulting in too much irrational exuberance by banks and lenders that resulted in the Great Recession.
Does that sound familiar? Economists are beginning to wonder if the Fed under Jerome Powell to making the same mistake in financing our recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.
However, the US economy is in a much better place now to tame economic activity—i.e., can create a soft landing without causing an ensuing recession—if the Biden administration and congress will pay for the investments we are making in our public improvements with the current infrastructure and family plan bills working through congress.
This is in addition to the already passed $trillions to pay for the pandemic. The new legislation will increase productivity by giving Americans earning wages and salaries better working conditions, and families a better education, including paid childcare and family leave that will lift many families with young children out of poverty.
The benefits of putting Americans back on a footing with other developed countries in the 38-member Organization of Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) are almost incalculable, most of whose citizens work fewer hours for the same or better pay while producing the same amount of goods and services.
The bipartisan infrastructure deal reached by President Joe Biden and a group of senators would not only add to economic growth, but also lower the national debt, according to a new study from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School.
“Over time, as the new spending declines, IRS enforcement continues, and revenue grows from higher output, the government debt declines relative to baseline by 0.4 percent and 0.9 percent in 2040 and 2050 respectively,” said Wharton team as cited by CNBC in June.
The problem has never been what policies would improve the lives on America’s Main Street, but how to pay for them, and it will take additional legislation under the budget reconciliation process to boost taxes. Over the past 40-odd years government-is-the-problem policies instigated in 1980 by conservative Democrats and Republicans had cut taxes and whittled down government programs that would benefit Main Street.
The solution is more progressive taxation enacted that would divert profits from corporations and investors not investing in America’s future to where it will do the most good—in our sadly neglected infrastructure and social safety net.
There are many more safeguards in place that should cushion a soft landing if inflation becomes worrisome because of safeguards put in place since the Great Recession; such as requiring banks and other lending institutions to maintain higher reserves.
The Biden administration wants to pay for future, more equitable economic growth by raising taxes on the wealthiest and corporations, rather than borrowing more that would increase the federal debt. The problem will be to refute the reigning economic orthodoxy that says higher taxes inhibit growth and investment.
However, the lower tax rates since 1980 have increased income inequality rather than boosted long term growth rates,
The best ways to deal with inflation and any possible overheating is to invest in the health and economic security of future generations rather than those of past generations that haven’t done enough to pay for the future.
Harlan Green © 2021
Follow Harlan Green on Twitter: https://twitter.com/HarlanGreen
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