Enacting Sanders Agenda Would Catapult Economy

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Published on
Monday, February 08, 2016
byCommon Dreams
Enacting Sanders Agenda Would Catapult Economy, Shatter Inequality
First comprehensive, independent analysis shows that incomes would rise, job markets would grow, and prosperity would be more widely shared if Sanders' proposals were put into practice
byLauren McCauley, staff writer
50 Comments

Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., smiles during a campaign stop at Great Bay Community College, Sunday, Feb. 7, 2016, in Portsmouth, N.H. (Photo: AP/John Minchillo)
With so many bold proposals, what might a Bernie Sanders presidency do to the national economy?

It turns out, great things.

In fact, according to the economist who performed the first independent, comprehensive analysis of the candidate's economic agenda, a Sanders win could usher in a modern-day "New Deal," under which Americans would see incomes rise, job markets grow, and an overall budget surplus by his second term.

"Like the New Deal of the 1930s, Senator Sanders' program is designed to do more than merely increase economic activity," said University of Massachusetts Amherst economics professor Gerald Friedman, who conducted the study, which was given exclusively to CNNMoney.

And keeping in line with Sanders' promises to work towards a more "moral" distribution of wealth and create an economy for the 99 percent, Friedman added that the candidate's plan will "promote a more just prosperity, broadly-based with a narrowing of economy inequality."

Assuming the Vermont senator was able to push his ambitious spending and tax proposals through Congress, the analysis found that median household income would reach $82,200 by 2026, which CNN notes is "far higher than the $59,300 projected by the Congressional Budget Office."

What's more, the analysis found that "poverty would plummet to a record low 6%, as opposed to the CBO's forecast of 13.9%. The U.S. economy would grow by 5.3% per year, instead of 2.1%, and the nation's $1.3 trillion deficit would turn into a large surplus by Sanders' second term."

Sanders has called to raise the minimum wage and shift wealth from the rich to middle- and working-class people through tax hikes on the wealthiest individuals and corporations. Further, his agenda aims to stimulate growth by pouring $14.5 trillion into the economy through spending on infrastructure and youth employment, increasing Social Security benefits, making college free, and expanding health care and family leave.

Friedman concludes that these policies would "be more stimulative" than his competitors' proposals, many of which included large tax cuts.

Though not commissioned by his campaign, Sanders' policy director reportedly called it "outstanding work."


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[Jesús Malverde]

This is more or less obvious. Austerity and tax cuts for the wealthy are anti-stimulative, and in fact large wealth inequality is as well.

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Here's How 7 of Bernie's Economic Proposals Would Radically Improve the Majority of Americans' Lives
A handy guide to Bernie's brass tacks.
By Gerald Friedman / Dollars and Sense February 10, 2016


No one should be surprised by the popular support that Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) has attracted in his run for president as a democratic socialist. Nor should we be surprised that he has drawn attacks charging that his policies will bankrupt the United States. Sanders’ proposals for infrastructure, early-childhood education, higher education, youth employment, family leave, private pensions, and Social Security would total over $3.8 trillion over 10 years. While this is a large number, it would be barely 6% of federal spending for 2017-2026.

Apart from any benefits these programs would bring directly, their cost would be reduced in four ways: Two operate by offsetting current spending and tax policies—either replacing existing federal spending or reducing tax breaks currently subsidizing private spending. The other two, which account for over 70% of the cost reduction, are the “dynamic effects” of increased economic growth—boosting tax revenues and reducing federal safety-net spending when the economy expands.

A quarter of new spending would be offset by savings and by faster economic growth. (See Figure 1.) The ongoing effects of the Great Recession that began in 2007 have left many resources underutilized. By putting unemployed workers and discouraged workers (who have stopped looking for jobs) back to work, the Sanders program would increase economic activity and government revenues while reducing spending on safety-net programs like Supplemental Nutrition.

Taking these dynamic effects into account, the net cost to the public treasury would be about $2.7 trillion, instead of $3.8 trillion, over 10 years. That is, over a quarter of the total tab would be offset by reductions in other forms of government spending and by increased tax revenue derived from faster economic growth.


Each of the seven spending proposals would benefit from offsets and dynamic effects. (See Figure 2.) Universal childcare and free college tuition, for example, would replace existing spending on programs for childcare assistance and much of the spending on Pell Grants for students at public colleges, spending on infrastructure would offset some required maintenance spending, and raising Social Security benefits would allow some seniors to avoid dependence on Supplemental Nutrition (SNAP) and other safety net programs. The programs would also increase tax revenues by eliminating some existing “tax expenditures”—tax breaks that subsidize private spending—like deductions for employer-provided child care.

The programs would accelerate the recovery from the Great Recession. (See Figure 3.) Eight years after the beginning of the Great Recession, the American economy remains depressed. While the economy has been growing steadily since the end of 2009, output remains nearly 5% below capacity. Only 59% of the adult population is employed, down from over 63% before the recession and the lowest level in 30 years.

I estimate that, due to increased government spending, the Sanders program would increase GDP growth rates for 2017-2026 enough to result in a projected GDP in 2026 $4 trillion higher than without the programs.


The Sanders program would add six million new jobs. (See Figure 4.) The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) projects that, due to sluggish economic growth, the percentage of the working-age population employed will fall between now and 2026, from 59% to 57%. The Sanders program would directly create jobs in infrastructure, in child-care services, in higher education, and for young people. It would also create additional jobs indirectly, as the newly employed and others spend their additional income. All told, I calculate that the program would raise employment by six million jobs by 2026.

Government spending would decline relative to GDP within the decade. (See Figure 5.) Federal spending would initially increase faster than GDP under the Sanders program. After 2021, however, federal spending would be lower as a percentage of GDP than it would be under Congressional Budget Office (CBO) projections, because of the strength of the economic recovery engendered by the Sanders stimulus. This is actually a conservative estimate of the boost to GDP because it does not include the productivity-raising effects of infrastructure spending and increased education.

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