, Columnist
Not All Budget Deficits Are Created Equal
A shortfall that arises from tax cuts is easier to address than one that comes from spending increases.
Another deficit in the books.
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The U.S. budget deficit is now almost $740 billion, the Treasury Department reported last week, prompting a new round of familiar criticism of 2017’s Tax Cut and Jobs Act: The law’s huge tax cuts were irresponsible, as were Republicans’ sloppy and at times deliberately misleading assertions that the law would pay for itself.
That criticism is understandable, but it elides an important distinction. Deficits that arise from tax cuts aren’t as bad as those that come from spending increases.