Tag Archives: US budget policy

Ahead of the mid-term elections, politicians in Washington are trashing out proposals that aim to make permanent the tax cuts voted last December.The House Republicans have launched a new plan to cut taxes, mostly revolving around the idea of making recent cuts for households permanent (they are currently scheduled to lapse in 2025).This willingness by Congress to continue the tax-cutting effort, even if uncertain, could reassure a US business community that has been receiving mixed signals...

The Trump administration is noticeably more focused on trade issues than on the ongoing deterioration in public finances.Second-quarter current account data from the US Bureau of Economic Analysis showed once again a sizeable trade deficit, particularly in merchandise trade excluding energy. The energy boom driven by shale gas and light oil has reduced the US’s dependency on energy imports, in turn improving the headline current-account reading. But the US is still a net petroleum importer...

Heavy on spending cuts, but containing dubious revenue calculations, the president’s budget plan is unlikely to be adopted by Congress. But we still expect tax cuts by year’s end.President Trump’s budget request was issued yesterday. Higher defence and infrastructure spending are proposed, more than compensated for by drastic cuts in other spending. The consequence is that total outlays are reduced dramatically.On the revenue side, the budget plan was very short on details. It assumes that...