Trump Tax Cuts May Fail to Drive Much, If Any, Economic Gain

  • Republicans plan to renew tax cuts for households under Trump
  • Cuts estimated to cost $4.6 trillion, with few offset plans

Donald Trump at the New York Stock Exchange on Dec. 12.

Photographer: Spencer Platt/Getty Images
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President-elect Donald Trump says renewing tax cuts would turbo-charge investment and boost US economic growth — a pledge that helped propel him to election victory in November.

But new analysis from the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget (CRFB), a nonpartisan fiscal watchdog group, warns that extending tax cuts set to expire next year could do almost nothing to grow the economy. That’s a jarring data point for Republicans framing the case to renew the costly legislation as a way to boost an economy that many voters say isn’t serving them.