Harris Proposes to Increase the Deficit by 0.5 Percent of GDP Over the Next Decade

by Dean Baker

 August 19, 2024
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Photograph Source: The White House – Public Domain

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 is projected to 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 appeared on Dean Baker’s Beat the Press blog.

Dean Baker is the senior economist at the Center for Economic and Policy Research in Washington, DC.