About That 3 Percent GDP Growth

It is fueled by government spending, deficits, and debt.

AP/Evan Vucci
President Biden delivers remarks on the economy, June 28, 2023, at the Old Post Office at Chicago. AP/Evan Vucci

So, about that 3 percent plus gross domestic product growth reported yesterday that led to table-dancing in the White House… I’d give them their due.

If you’re running a 30 percent economic approval rating on a consistent basis, it’s perfectly understandable that you’d throw a few back and jump on the tables.

However, it’s important to emphasize the outsized role that government spending, deficits, and debt played in that GDP number. And, in fact, all of President Biden’s GDP numbers in recent years.

The Committee to Unleash Prosperity Hotline shows that government spending has grown faster than consumer spending for the last six quarters.

And, I might add, consumer spending lately has been heavily dependent on credit card borrowing, especially during the holiday season.

I noted yesterday that economist Joe Lavorgna has pointed out that government spending in the last three years under Mr. Biden has come in with a cumulative excess of $3.3 trillion above the long-term spending trend. And that federal spending continues to rise faster than GDP.

Meanwhile, on the supply-side of the economy, business equipment has been flat over the past year, as has been manufacturing output.

So the Bidens are pumping up demand by borrowing their keisters off, but there is no matching increase in the supply of goods and services.

And, no matter how much welcome easing of inflation in recent months we’ve seen, too much money chasing too few goods is a recipe for higher, not lower, inflation.

Additionally, from ZeroHedge.com, while Q4 nominal GDP grows by $329 billion, the U.S. budget deficit grew by more than 50 percent, or $510 billion. What’s more?

America’s debt in public hands during that same three-month period increased a remarkable $834 billion, or 154 percent more than the increase in GDP.

So, ZeroHedge concludes it took $1.55 in budget deficit to generate $1 of growth. And it takes over $2.50 in new debt to generate $1 of GDP growth. I’d say: that’s a helluva way to make a living.

From Mr. Kudlow’s broadcast on Fox Business Network.


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