Economics: Ever since 1981, Republican Party fiscal policy has consisted of: (1) lie about the likely results of our policies, (2) enact them in order to give massive tax cuts to the rich, (3) leaving the economy weaker and worse off, (4) wait for the Democratic Party to clean up the mess, (5) complain about how the Democratic Party cleans up the mess, and then (6) repeat. To be a Republican Party official or influencer with respect to economics, you have to have fully bought-in to this cynical and mendacious mess for… 45 years now. And it is starting again:

Jeffrey Frankel: Elon Musk’s $2 Trillion Fiscal Fantasy: ‘Between Trump’s planned tax cuts and Musk’s absurd estimate of how much federal spending can be reduced, the smart money says they have no idea what they are doing…. The… line is that the lost revenue will be offset by spending cuts… continuing a 45-year theguardian.com/busines… tradition jeffrey-frankel.com/202… of… promises… [which] all failed spectacularly…. Trump is also upholding another Republican tradition: appointing a toothless advisory commission of businesspeople…. DOGE… headed by Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy…. According to Musk, DOGE will be able to slash thehill.com/business/49… “at least $2 trillion” from the budget per year. This goal – which amounts to 31% of annual US spending, and 7% of US GDP – is sheer fantasy. Don’t let the word “Department” fool you: DOGE is an advisory commission, not a government department… <project-syndicate.org/c…>