Treasury secretary predicts 3 percent growth

Edith Wang
By Edith Wang
May 1, 2017US News
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Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin talked about the Trump administration’s growth projections, tax cuts, and immigration plans at the Milken Institute Global Conference on May 1.

Mnuchin said the administration projected a sustained economic growth rate of 3 percent, which could be achieved with a two years, depending on how long it took to pass the president’s tax plan and regulatory reforms.

Mnuchin emphasized that the White House hoped for bipartisan support, but said the economic package the administration was proposing was so important for America, the Republicans in Congress would pass it by reconciliation if necessary.

“We’d like to see bipartisan support and I would hope that there are Democrats that will support this given that this is really all about jobs, this is about creating economic growth and jobs,” he said.

Reconciliation is a congressional rule that limits debate and prevents filibusters of certain economic legislation.

Mnuchin implied that the president’s plan would eventually be revenue neutral—that is, it would raise as much money as it saved.

“We expect to pay for this through economic growth and through eliminating a lot of deductions,” he said.

“When you talk about economic growth the difference between roughly 2 and 3 percent GDP is close to $2 trillion of revenues over a 10-year period of time. It’s a big number.”

Mnuchin also talked about the changes needed to corporate and business taxes. He wanted small- and medium-sized businesses to get the same breaks big corporations could.

Mnuchin closed by talking briefly about immigration. He stressed that Trump was committed to legal immigration.

“There’s many, many people that have come here legally and contributed to the economy. It’s been an important source of growth and that will continue,” he said.

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