The WSJ "Con" Job
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This is extremely embarrassing and a deceptive act by the WSJ editorial team. The current budget baseline relies on what is explicitly stated in the tax code, not on assumptions. According to the existing tax law, individual tax rates are set to return to pre-2017 levels in 2026. That is a fact. Where is written that "Congress was never going to allow" individual tax rates to revert back to pre 2017?
If the "Big Beautiful Bill" (BBB) is projected to save $500 billion over the next ten years, as stated by the WSJ editorial team, then why does the BBB include a provision to raise the debt ceiling by $5 trillion? The WSJ editorial team, similar to members of Congress, is currently engaged in using deceptive "budget math".
However, this will not fool global investors or credit rating agencies, who will soon confront a US debt approaching $50 trillion.
Joseph G. Carson
AuthorMore in Author Profile »Joseph G. Carson, Former Director of Global Economic Research, Alliance Bernstein. Joseph G. Carson joined Alliance Bernstein in 2001. He oversaw the Economic Analysis team for Alliance Bernstein Fixed Income and has primary responsibility for the economic and interest-rate analysis of the US. Previously, Carson was chief economist of the Americas for UBS Warburg, where he was primarily responsible for forecasting the US economy and interest rates. From 1996 to 1999, he was chief US economist at Deutsche Bank. While there, Carson was named to the Institutional Investor All-Star Team for Fixed Income and ranked as one of Best Analysts and Economists by The Global Investor Fixed Income Survey. He began his professional career in 1977 as a staff economist for the chief economist’s office in the US Department of Commerce, where he was designated the department’s representative at the Council on Wage and Price Stability during President Carter’s voluntary wage and price guidelines program. In 1979, Carson joined General Motors as an analyst. He held a variety of roles at GM, including chief forecaster for North America and chief analyst in charge of production recommendations for the Truck Group. From 1981 to 1986, Carson served as vice president and senior economist for the Capital Markets Economics Group at Merrill Lynch. In 1986, he joined Chemical Bank; he later became its chief economist. From 1992 to 1996, Carson served as chief economist at Dean Witter, where he sat on the investment-policy and stock-selection committees. He received his BA and MA from Youngstown State University and did his PhD coursework at George Washington University. Honorary Doctorate Degree, Business Administration Youngstown State University 2016. Location: New York.
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